Sisters by Claim
by Shadoword
Summary: For ten years their sister was an invisible figure to them. Now she's back, and they are beyond extatic, but now they are dragged into the world she hoped to keep them out of, and Shadow finds herself fighting to keep the only family she has safe.
1. Reunion

**Summary: When they were younger, it wasn't just the two of them. Namine and Kairi are twins that had an adopted sister since the age of three. A few years later their sister is taken from them. As time progresses they keep in touch with her through letters, and by her every now and then stopping by when she can. Now, ten years later, she's back, for good, the deal that was made all those years ago fullfilled so she can finally reunite with the ones she calls family. But the job she left needs her back halfway into her vacation, and for more dire circumstances. Now their older sister is working to keep her siblings safe as they are pulled into her world, one she was hoping they'd never have to enter in the first place.**

_Seen that ray of light  
__And it's shining on my destiny  
__Shining all the time  
__And I won't be afraid  
__To follow everywhere it's taking me  
__All I know is yesterday is gone  
__And right now I belong  
__To this moment to my dreams_

_So I won't give up  
__No I won't break down  
__Sooner than it seems life turns around  
__And I will be strong  
__Even if it all goes wrong  
__When I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe  
__Someone's watching over me_

The night was calm, the entire home currently basking in the peacefulness. Kairi and Namine, just six years old at the time, were sitting in their rooms, waiting for their sister to come and explain to them what was wrong like they always did. Kairi's short red hair was absolutely still as she sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest as she stared at the door across from her bed. Namine's pale blond hair was being twisted nervously in her fingers as she too sat on her sister's bed. Every now and then you could hear the slight raise of a voice before it would immediately died down. That's what had been going on for the past hour, and it was slowly eating at the two girls.

Finally the door opened and they both watched as their older sister came in. Long black hair that fell straight down to her upper back, with unique black eyes staring at them, just a shade lighter than her pupils. She was pretty pale, but not sickly, and she wasn't as pale as the two younger girls. She was only ten, but a good four years older than them. She smiled slightly at the two girls on the bed. "Shadow, what's wrong?" The girl smiled at their name for her, and sat down in front of them on the bed.

"Nothing's wrong you two, just some unexpected events came up, that's all." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, looking older than what she really was. "I have to go away for a bit. OK?"

"But why sissy?" Namine asked quietly, still playing with her hair nervously.

"Some people need help and they asked me to be the one to help them, so I agreed." she said it with a smile, and the two girls were still to young to noticed the sadness in her eyes.

"When will you be back?" Kairi asked curiously.

"I'm...not really sure. But I promise, I'll keep in touch, OK?" She could see both girls borderline tears. Holding back a sigh she sat Indian style and Namine came over to crawl on her lap, the older girl wrapping her arms around her small waist. "Don't worry guys, it won't be that bad."

"But you won't be here!" Kairi said with a small sob, climbing over and feeling her arm wrap around her as well.

"I know kiddo." She said quietly, and took a deep breath so she could stable her voice again. "I'm sorry." She held the two tight, like she didn't want to let them go, because that would mean she would have too leave.

They heard a knocking on the front door and Shadow's eyes narrowed. Both girls were borderline passing out so she carefully climbed out from under them, taking Namine and carrying her to her bed before tucking her in before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. She repeated this process with Kairi before walking to the door and slowly opening it. "Be carefully sissy." Namine said quietly, just barely a whisper.

Shadow gulped and nodded before stepping out and closing the door, the soft click signaling her departure for the next three years.

XXXXXX

Namine's eyes snapped open and she pushed herself up, wildly looking around her room. When she didn't see anything out of the ordinary she bit her lip before sliding out of bed, her soft white nightgown flowing slightly as she walked out of her bedroom and down the hall. Footsteps silent, she her way quickly to her destination before she found herself in front of a solid wood door. Carefully opening it she walked in and to the large bed against the center wall.

Red hair spilled across the pillow as Kairi slept, however she had the slightest frown on her face, something that was rare to see. Namine gently shook her sister's shoulder. "Kairi." she whispered. It only took a moment before her sister woke up, looking slightly startled briefly before her features softened. "What's wrong Namine?"

"I had a dream about Shadow again." They'd call her Shadow for as long as they could remember, that was their nickname for her, but professionally they called her Shade. Just something they had come up with and it has stuck. No one really called her by her real name.

Kairi's eyes went sad as she nodded, scooting over so Namine could sit next to her. "Do you think she's OK?"

"I'm sure she is. After all these years of being fine why would she slip up now?" Kairi said with some cheer in her voice, and Namine smiled.

"Yeah. I'm really glad she made our performance. Just wished I could have seen her." Shadow had her own ways of keeping in touch. Letters were consistently left on their windowsills and in other various places, she had been keeping up with them as they moved. They would always write back, leave it in the same place her letter was, and the next morning it would be gone or replaced by another. This was how she would find out important events. Whenever something big was going on in their lives they could always bet to see their favorite flowers in some shape or form as a gift. For Namine it was always the Daffodils while Kairi liked colored roses.

"Don't worry, summer's coming up soon, maybe she'll stop by like she did last year."

Namine giggled. "Mom and Dad still don't know about that, huh?"

"Nope." Kairi said cheerfully, and both girls fought the onslaught of giggles that threatened to wake their parents up.

"I really miss her Kairi." Namine whispered. The redhead wrapped her arm around her shoulders and gave her a tight squeeze.

"I know sis. I do too."

XXXXXX

Kairi sighed as she walked out of her final class for that day, feeling exhausted and just ready to curl up and sleep. She wasn't mad that Namine had come in her room last night, but it did screw her sleeping up some. After making her way to her locker she opened up the door and put in her books, briefly studying the various pictures taped to it. Most of them were of Kairi and Namine with their three best friends, Sora, Roxas, and Riku. They had basically known them close to their entire lives, ever since they moved here when they were six. But taped in the top corner was one of Kairi and Namine when they were five, with a ten year old Shadow with them. They were under one of the trees in the park with Shadow trapped under the two as they tackled her.

Kairi smiled some before and was about to close her locker door when she was met with the energetic face of Sora, a real smile coming across her features. "Hi Sora!" His spiky brown hair pointed in every direction as bright blue eyes greeted hers.

"Hey Kairi! Want to get some ice cream with Roxas and me? He went to go find Namine so he could ask her ask her too." Roxas was Sora's close cousin, the two basically twins and as close as brothers, with the exception of Roxas having blond hair.

"Sure. That would be nice." She was about to close her locker door when she saw an envelope sticking out from underneath one of her books. Pulling it out, she saw her name in block print written across the cover, the pen having been pressed down firmly. Immediately recognizing Shadow's writing, she grinned and closed her locker door. "What's that?" Sora asked, looking at the envelope quizically.

Kairi had completely forgotten about him. "Oh, um, nothing, just a letter from one of my friends." She explained quickly, putting it in her backpack. "Let's get going, don't want to keep the others waiting!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hallway as they quickly picked up speed.

When the exited the school they could see Namine was already with Roxas and Riku. One look at her sister and she knew her sister had also gotten a letter. They both smiled at each other and followed the guys as they made their way off the school property and towards the shopping center where the ice cream shop was located. Riku glanced over and could see the excitement in the girl's eyes. "Never seen you two so excited about ice cream before." Smirking, his silver bangs fell slightly in front of his turquoise eyes as his shoulder length hair hung around him.

Namine smiled. "We're just excited to see the knew Hoodwinked movie coming out this week." That was the truth, but not the sole reason for their excitement. The girls had made it a habit to keep their sister out of the conversations from the guys. It wasn't a secret that they found hard to keep, they just didn't want the sympathy and problems that would come with it. The less people the better.

"That movie is so awesome! Mind if we come with?" Roxas asked.

"Sure." Kairi chirped. "We'll catch it a couple days after the opening so that way we aren't fighting the crowds." Throughout the next hour they sat in the simple ice cream shop eating their Sea-Salt ice cream but that was as long as the girls could wait before they excused themselves and left the shop, waiting until they rounded the corner before breaking into a run.

XXXXXX

_Dear Kairi,_

_Sorry it took me a couple days to get back to you. Work has been picking up speed and refusing to slow down, trust me, not fun. But taking the day off to see you and Namine at the performance was beyond worth it. Your voice worked so well with the piano I was shocked, and very pleased so see that you kept up with your singing lessons even though you wanted to quit. You gotta remember, there is always going to be a time when quitting sounds more than appealing, but the rewards are so much greater if you hang in there. Another thing that I learned when taking on life. _

_So I was looking at your report card in your last letter. I know Geography isn't your favorite, but a C+? Come on sis, I know you can do better. If anything, think of it as a war, you on one side, the class on the other. I better not be seeing you getting killed in this class, so pick up the book and start studying. If anything ask Namine for help, I know she's pretty good at it, in turn offer her some help with her math class, fair trade._

_Hang in there and I will talk to you later. Summer's coming up, so finish it full force so that way the payoff is all the more sweet. Love you tons._

_-Shadow_

Kairi giggled some as she read the letter. When she got to the part about her grade she frowned slightly before admitting defeat. Shadow was right, whether she like it or not. But asking for help wasn't one of her most favorite things to do. _With it being Namine though would probably make it easier._ She thought.

Deciding she'd ask her later on that night she went to her desk and sat down to pull out a sheet of paper and pen before starting to write.

XXXXXX

_Heya Namine,_

_How's my favorite piano player? I was blown away the night of your performance, you looked so nice and professional! But the bouncing knee has to stop, I know you're nervous but you shouldn't be. You and Kairi did great and I couldn't be more proud of you guys._

_That picture you gave me in the last letter was beautiful. I noticed how you used pen instead of pencils, it looked really nice and a little more solid, might want to try and work on keeping your strokes in one direction, k? But seriously, if you could give me one of the islands then that would be awesome. =) And turns out that I have a friend who's an art supplier in town. The address is on the back, stop by in the next few days and tell her your name, she'll hook you up. _

_I better get going, work seems bent on having every second of my attention. I swear, it's worse than Yoru when she was just a pup. Love ya sisand I will talk to you later._

_-Shadow_

Namine smiled when she read about her sister loving the picture, and made sure to note that she would have to start watching her strokes and wondered if Kairi would want to go with her to the islands tomorrow so she could get started on the sketch. When she read the final paragraph she giggled, remembering the pictures of Yoru when she was just a puppy. The Alaskan Husky was growing non stop the first year and still had the heart and energy of a two year old to this day, even though he was pushing five years old now he was still going strong.

She glanced at the picture of the dog on her bulletin board and grinned before picking up a notebook and a pencil before quickly starting to scribble.

XXXXXX

Kairi woke up a few days later and pushed herself up to take a shower before pausing for a moment. Something didn't feel right. Wait, that was the wrong way to phrase it, something felt _different_. That's what she meant. Her lower lip puckering slightly as she thought, she quickly took a shower, got dressed and finished up with doing her hair and makeup before quickly grabbing her back and heading down the stairs. Namine was already there, her outfit more simpler than Kairi's, and she wore only a little makeup. Their mom was in the kitchen and making scrambled eggs, which Kairi was immediately wary of. Namine looked up apologetically as she sat down. "Morning honey." Their mom had bright red hair that Kairi got her's from, and her eyes were a light blue set in a narrow face. Her form was pretty small and Kairi was just about her size, which was around 5'7".

A plate was set in front of her with overcooked eggs that gave them a dry look and toast. Kairi bit back a groan but ate the piece of toast before getting up and heading towards the door with Namine taking an apple with her. "Bye mom!"

"But you barely ate!"

"Not hungry." She said, walking out the door with Namine next to her. The blond held the apple out to her sister who gratefully took it. "Thanks."

"How many times do you think you've told her you don't like dry eggs?"

"Throughout the many years that I've been alive." Kairi said with a sigh. "But she tries, just doesn't listen."

"At least dad didn't try to make pancakes today." Both girls flinched at the memories of burnt pancakes and stomach aches.

"Remember when Shadow made those chocolate chip pancakes for our birthday when mom and dad were on that business trip." Namine said happily.

"Best. Food. Ever." Both of them laughed as they walked to school, their moods improved by the memory.

They both loved their parent's dearly, however they weren't always in touch with the two girls. Their dad being a professional business executive he was constantly traveling, as was their mom who was a nurse who went across the country teaching classes. So they were gone most of the time and didn't see their kids much. Neither really minded it, in fact it made it somewhat easier since when they were home they were pretty out of touch. Problem was their parent's never noticed. They were a little out of date on what the two liked and disliked so it made them being home somewhat annoying at times, but they still made it work.

The sisters had most of the same classes, except for second period, where Namine had art while Kairi had choir. Both of them stood in front of the school, looking up at it briefly and feeling that rare time when they wanted to be anywhere but there. Normally they were pretty good and going and being OK with it, only once did they skip and that was because a friend needed their help. "Ready?" Kairi asked.

Namine gave her twin a small smile. "Let's go."

XXXXXX

The motorcycle ripped down the streets of the mainland of Destiny Islands, quickly making sharp turns as it moved knowingly throughout the streets. Pure black with silver lining the edges, the bike was a Yamaha R1, just with less body armor. The tires tore against the ground as the rider expertly made their way to their destination. Dressed in black shorts and the same colored t-shirt that was cut off at the sleeves with a slight v-neck, the outfit hugged the drivers body and made out it was a girl. Deep black shades sat in front of her eyes and her black hair was tied back in a ponytail, with the ends died a deep crimson red. Under her shirt and on her upper right shoulder there was a tattoo of a dragon encircling a long sword, the beast a solid black with bright red eyes. It was detailed down to the individual scales and was probably about four inches in height. Finally a long silver chain held her dog tags that rested just underneath her shirt, their name engraved in old English lettering. Earphones were in place and at full volume while the 160GB iPod resting in her back pocket, blasting Disturbed.

Shadow's dark eyes glanced up briefly at the street sign before making a turn, and pulling to a stop when the light turned red. Pulling her iPod out she glanced at the time and a small smirk came across her face before she put it back and let her gloved hands rest on the bike again, fingertips of the leather cut off to expose her firm hands as they gripped the bars.

The light turned green and the engine kicked up again before disappearing down the street. It wasn't until five minutes later that it pulled up in front of it's destination. Destiny High was a pretty nice school, and it was obvious they took their job seriously. Shadow was pulling up just as students were rushing out of the large double doors. She kept her eyes opened for the two she was looking for, and briefly wondered how they'd react. After all these years in their notes they said they missed her, but it was one thing to write it and an entirely different thing to actually feel that way.

When they appeared at the top of the steps, Shadow smiled some. They had grown up a lot from the last picture they sent her. Kairi's hair was shoulder length, not as short as it once had been, and Namine' had cut her hair. Kairi was obviously more dressed up than Namine and showed more colors while her sister was more on the plain side and favored the lighter tones. She smiled at how they could look so different but also so alike. Three teenage guys walked with them, blond, brunette, and silver haired. She knew them as Roxas, Sora, and Riku, the girls talked about them all the time.

When they got closer she cut the engine and got off the motorcycle. When she turned around and leaned against it, arms crossed, the twins were walking past when Kairi glanced her way before freezing. Namine turned to see what she was looking at and followed the action, pausing mid-step as they both stared at her.

Time to find out if she was missed.

XXXXXX

When the bell rang, you could literally feel the celebration in the air as everyone jumped out of their chairs and rushed out the door. Namine, however, took her time, waiting until everyone had left before starting towards the door that led out of the geography classroom. Kairi was nowhere to be seen, so she decided to just meet up with her at the entrance as she walked towards her locker to quickly put away some books. Roxas was a few lockers down and greeted her before they headed towards the school exit. "That geography test was killer, I have no clue how you pull it off Namine."

She gave a small smile, embarrassed of the compliment. "Thanks. It's easy if you just study a bit." She giggled as he groaned and shook his head.

"Studying equals bad." They turned to see Sora there, as he shoved some papers in his backpack.

"No, studying is what gets you the passing grade." Riku and Kairi joined them now, the silver haired teen having made the comment. Namine smiled at her sister as they walked towards the large double doors, Sora now trying to tackle Riku. "How did you do on the geography test Kairi?" She asked.

"I think I did pretty good, thanks for the help." She replied in a grateful tone. "Not my absolute favorite class but I think I can bring my grade up in time before summer hits."

Her sister nodded encouragingly as the sun suddenly washed over them, quickly making their way down the steps as they discussed what they were going to do the rest of the day. "Hey Kairi, I need to head to the islands for a bit. Would you come with me?"

Kairi, who was on her left, turned to answer her before she froze, her eyes widening and mouth opening just slightly. Namine paused and studied her sister with a worried expression before turning to see what she was looking at, eyes widening as well.

She looked nothing close to the thin child she had been at the age of ten, instead it looked like she worked out, her clothes emphasizing the fact. Her hair was longer, she could tell even with it in a ponytail, and the dyed tips were definitely new. Namine swallowed, wondering if she was staring at a stranger for no apparent reason or actually looking at the person she had wished to see all these years.

The guys had paused and were watching them, not really knowing what was going on. Namine and Kairi glanced at each other before the redhead spoke uncertainly. "Shadow?"

She dipped her head slightly, a small smile on her lips. "The one and only."

It almost like it took a full minute for their minds to register what she had just said, while it only took milliseconds before Shade found herself tackled by two teenage girls. "It's you!" She chuckled softly as she was practically choked, but returned the hugs. Namine had tears slipping down her face while Kairi was biting her lower lip hard. "Where have you been!" She yelled at her sister, pulling back and looking slightly infuriated. "Not once did you let us know where you were, only letting us in on vague details. That's it! Nothing more!"

Shadow flinched slightly, but nodded. "Sorry Kairi, but I had to."

"Oh yeah? And why's that?" She wanted to hug her sister again so badly, but another part of her was angry that she never let her in on where she was.

"Because if I didn't..."Shadow paused to look for the right words. "It's hard to explain. I just need you to trust me on this."

It was silent for a moment as the three sisters studied each other, before Kairi finally sighed and nodded in defeat. "I trust you." She said with a small smile. Namine tackled her in another hug and Shadow smiled, hugging her sister back before letting go and pulling Kairi into a tight hug. "I missed you two so frickin' much." Kairi laughed and nodded.

"Um, excuse me, but who are you?" Sora asked slowly, asking the question on all three of of their minds.

Shadow smirked at them and put an arm around Namine's shoulder. "I'm Shade, and these two are my younger sisters."


	2. Information

_I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid  
__To take a stand, to take a stand  
__(Yeah, it's been a ride)  
__Everybody, everybody  
__(I guess I had to)  
__Come take my hand, come take my hand  
__(Go to that place to get to this one)_

_We'll walk this world together through the storm  
__(Now some of you)  
__Whatever weather, cold or warm  
__(Might still be in that place)  
__Just lettin' you know that you're not alone  
__(If you're tryin' to get out)  
__Holla if you feel like you've been down the same road  
__(Just follow me, I'll get you there)_

Riku, Sora, and Roxas were beyond confused. The last two were just gawking at the sisters while the silver haired teen was searching for any resemblance. "You never told us you had a sister!" Sora yelled, still staring point-blank at Shadow.

"It never came up?" Namine almost asked hesitantly, a nervous laugh coming from her. Shadow patted her back encouragingly as Riku was next to speak. "No offense, I don't see any resemblance."

"Because there is none." She replied. "I'm their adopted sister. These two were, three years old when I was adopted, so I was seven. Known each other ever since."

"So where have you been?" Roxas asked.

"Story for another time." Shadow replied, looking back at her sisters. "You're parents home?"

Kairi thought for a moment. "Both of them are in town but they have to work late tonight." She looked almost uncertain as she spoke again. "Do you have to leave soon?"

Shade smiled somewhat sadly while she shook her head. "I'm here to stay you two." Namine let out a squeal of delight while Kairi clapped her hands excitedly.

"Sorry guys, we gotta go." Kairi said, grabbing Shadow by the upper arm. "We'll see you Monday!" They waved and started walking on while Shadow took her bike and started following the two girls, walking it beside her with little to none difficulty.

"So what happened? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it that you're here, but why now?" Namine was immensely curious to this little unknown fact.

"Long story short, I held up my end of the deal." Shadow replied, earphones draped across her shoulders. "Don't worry about it guys, I'll fill you in later." Kairi grinned. "We're holding you to that!"

Shadow chuckled. "I'm sure you will."

XXXXXX

Kairi unlocked the house door and they stepped in, their older sister's motorcycle in the driveway. Shadow looked around the large house, her army styled boots walking across the hardwood floor with light thumps. To their left was the living room, straight in front of her was the stairway that led to the second floor with a hallway right next to it before the kitchen came up on the far right. Kairi dropped her backpack on the couch while Namine hung hers on the wood stairwell. "Come on in Shade." Kairi said happily. "We'll show you our rooms and then where you will be staying."

She looked over at them. "You sure that's a good idea? I mean, you're parents probably wouldn't really care for the idea."

"Oh no you don't." Namine said determinedly, a rare sight for sure. "You're staying here, they'll live." She smiled and as she walked up the stairs put her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Alright, you win, show me around." first Namine, who's room was the first door on the right. The light blue colors reminded Shadow of the ocean while it was accented with many white items along with miscellaneous belongings and lots of art supplies.

There was a bathroom a little down and on the left, while at the end of the hallway was Kairi's room. Her's was a light red accented with a few white colored items while she had a more variety of colors in the room than Namine. Her closet used all of it's space for clothes while Namine's was half clothes and the rest was organized art work. Shadow grinned when she saw the pictures she had sent the younger two throughout the years. She shook her head when she saw a picture of Yoru. "I'll have to bring Yoru down here so you guys can properly meet her." She commented.

"That would be so awesome! I can't wait to meet her." Kairi said happily.

Namine suddenly thought for a moment before taking the side of her sister's shirt and pulling it aside, looking at the dragon tattoo. "I remember when you told us about this. It looks really good."

"Thanks Namine." Shadow said. "It was a gift from a friend."

"It looks nice." Kairi agreed with a nod. She glanced at the clock and saw it was nearing five that night. "What do you want to eat Shade? We can make you something."

"How about you two put up your stuff and I'll make you dinner."

"But why?" Namine asked.

"Your parents still cook like they did ten years ago?" She inquired with a smirk. The two glanced at each other before nodding in union, giggling at her point. "That's what I thought, now get moving." Shadow was followed downstairs as they grabbed their stuff and went to put it up while she walked around the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later they smelt it before they saw it, and rushed down the stairs to see Shadow loading their plates with hot spaghetti, a decked out salad, and garlic bread. "Food!" They almost crashed into the table as they scrambled into their seats and Shadow paused in front of the table as she looked at them. "You know, just because the food sucks doesn't mean you have to starve yourself."

Both glanced at each other and looked back at her. "We do eat, just a lot of little things that aren't cooked and not baked." She rolled her eyes and slid the plates in front of them before going back to make herself one as she sat in the chair at the head of the table and ate with them.

The first ten minutes was straight eating before the teenagers got up to get seconds, that's when they started talking.

Kairi went first. "So what have you been up to all these years Shadow?"

The girl was nursing a large glass of water, spinning the glass in her hands as she thought about it. "Mostly just work. A few months ago, I think it was last December, Yoru and I took a two day vacation and went up to Twilight Town for a break, she really enjoyed the clock tower." Shadow laughed some. "People kept on wondering where the barking was coming from and never bothered to crane their necks up to look at the top of the tower." Kairi and Namine laughed, just picturing the idea of the dog standing way up there and barking her heart out.

"So when did you get the motorcycle?" Shadow thought for a moment.

"Sixteenth birthday present." Both girls gasped.

"Who got it for you?"

"The ones I've been living with for the past ten years." She smirked. "Took us a bit to get used to each other but now they're really good friends."

Namine spoke quietly and slowly. "Hey sis, why did you leave all those years ago?" Shadow stopped spinning the glass and her face turned into a blank mask for a moment.

"You guys already know I was adopted into your family when I was seven, so I don't have to explain that." She paused, then spoke again, sounding somewhat strained. "The day I left, we got a call. My biological father and mother had tracked me down and wanted me back. We really didn't have a choice, they picked me up that night." Namine was worried at her sister's monotone voice and Kairi seemed to notice this as well. "Right from the beginning we didn't get along. The mom wasn't home to keep the dad from cutting me some slack. I basically played maid, chef, and anything else involving chores. Thankfully it didn't last long. A week, tops."

"What happened after that?" Kairi asked.

"He gambled, a lot. One night he got drunk enough and actually made a bet that include me. At first I was pissed, but the people who won the bet weren't half bad, and today I can easily say they're some of my best friends."

"Sorry you're parents were so mean." Kairi said sadly. Shadow put on a smile and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned I don't have any parents, just you two." They grinned and gave her a hug from their chairs.

"We're glad you're back."

"I'm am too." Shadow pushed herself up and glanced at the clock. "What do you guys normally do around this time?" It was pushing seven o'clock.

"Throw on pajamas and do homework." Namine asked, already knowing what she was going to say.

"Then you guys should go and do that, I'll clean up the kitchen."

"But-" they were both simultaneous with the word, but didn't make it any farther. Shadow crossed her arms and looked at them with the expression that they both recalled. Even at a young age she had had the look down, the one where she was emotionless and dead serious, leaving no room for debate. "Yes Shadow." They said grudgingly.

"Go." Both started for the stairs, feeling grins tug at their faces as the fact that they had their sister back was cemented in.

XXXXXX

Kairi was attempting to work on her Algebra homework, and even though she was good in the class, concentration was a problem at the moment. Letting out a sigh she finally put down her pencil and got up, stretching her stiff limbs as she walked to her door. She was dressed in a light pair of pink shorts and a white t-shirt. She saw Namine's door open as well and bit back a laugh at the timing. Both were about to head downstairs when they heard the front door open.

"Girls! We're home!" Both froze and looked at each other. Their parent's didn't know about Shadow yet. They were about to head downstairs when they saw Shadow appear at the bottom of the steps, glancing up at them with a look that told them to stay put while she turned towards the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi." Shade greeted formerly. Kairi literally heard her mother drop her keys and nothing from her father. She winced and they made sure to keep out of sight but in hearing range.

"Who are you?" Her father demanded, his voice deep and clearly meant to be intimidating. It would have worked, but this was Shadow.

"Been a while, so that's to be expected. I'm Shade, pleasure to meet you." Their mother gasped.

"Shade! Wait," She laughed. "Why are you going by that, it's not your real name."

"It's stuck over the years." She replied. Kairi and Namine smiled at each other, apparently the name they had given her when they were five has become one of her favorites.

"You've grown." Their father commented. "I'm glad to see you've been staying healthy."

"Thank you sir."

"Do Kairi and Namine know? Never mind, they're probably the first to see you." Their mother laughed and Shade grinned. "They've missed you, so no doubt they're excited. Are you staying for long?"

"Actually, I just moved to Radiant Gardens, the next town over, so I'll be able to visit more often."

"Wow, it's been years. How many, ten?" Their father inquired.

Shade lied. "Yes sir." Actually, she would visit every other summer when their parents were gone. Kairi and Namine decided to make an appearance. They walked down the stairs. "Hi mom, hi dad." Kairi greeted.

"How'd work go?" Namine took over.

"Just fine you two. Is your homework done?"

"Yep." They answered in chorus, and Shadow smirked.

"So have they shown you the guest room?" Their mother inquired.

"Yes ma'am. I appreciate you letting me stay here."

"It's no problem at all, it's getting late so you should get to rest, we'll catch up on what's been going on for the past few years tomorrow." As their parents walked down the hallway to their bedroom the three girls went up the stairs and into Kairi's room. Shade dropped onto her bed and lied down, crossing her arms behind her head as she glanced over. "How many weeks of school do you guys have left?"

"Two." Namine answered, sitting next to her feet. Kairi sat at the chair in front of her desk. "So what are you doing this summer."

A grin came across Shadow's face. "I was thinking that if you two weren't busy, maybe I'd steal you for a couple months and you could come stay with me at Hallow Bastion." It was silent for a moment and she actually opened her eyes to glance over at them.

"Yes!" Was her really loud answer. She laughed as both of them started to talk quickly and animatedly about what they would bring and the things they could do while they were there.

"Then again, if you wake your parent's up that might give them the chance to ground you from doing so." The silence was immediate. Shadow smirked and shook her head. "You two haven't really changed a bit." She mumbled, closing her eyes.

XXXXXX

That Saturday was one of the rare occasions that the twins parent's were home. But with Shadow being there that day, it didn't really make a difference to the two sisters. When they woke up that morning the smell of french toast, eggs, and bacon. It took them a minute to actually recognize it since the food wasn't burnt or dried to a crisp. Namine came down and stared at the food on the table. Their parents were still asleep, by some miracle, and Kairi was just coming down as well.

Both sisters sat down while Shadow brought over plates, and the redhead smiled when she saw eggs, not overcooked, but not slimy as well. She took a bite and smiled gratefully at her sister before continuing. Namine took a bite of the french toast, lightly drizzled in syrup. "This is good Shadow, thank you."

"No problem." She noticed that the older girl had on a different set of clothes. In fact her iPod was still in the armband with earphones draped across her shoulder. A gray t-shirt and light black shorts made up her outfit while her hair was pulled back. "Where have you been?"

"Running. Five miles, each morning."

"What time?" Kairi asked next.

"Normally four in the morning." Both girls choked and looked at her. She just shrugged. "You get used to it after a while, work needed me up early."

"I'm just going to pretend that you aren't crazy." Kairi decided. "So what do you want to do today?"

Shadow shrugged and took a seat, biting into a piece of bacon. "What did you have in mind. This is your hometown, you tell me."

"Want to call up the guys and we'll go to the movies?" Namine suggested. "It's still to early for the new Hoodwinked, but I'm sure something is playing."

"Sounds good. I'll call them after this. Sora and Roxas aren't doing anything I think and Riku should have today off work."

Shadow took a drink of water and stood up. "You two make the plans, I have to run to the hotel I'm staying at and change real quick. Want to give me the name of the theaters so I can meet you there?"

Namine wrote down the name and directions to the theater and her older sister took it. "Thanks. See you two later." They smiled and waved goodbye as she stepped out the front door, quickly going back to the food heaven.

XXXXXX

Sage cut the engine and got off the bike, running a hand through her hair as she stood in front of the movie theater. She was now dressed in a pair of dark blue and loose jeans with a black t-shirt that crossed in the back, so you had a clear view of the tattoo. She had her dog tags on and resting above her shirt this time, while she still had on her army styled boots. Her hair was down this time, and cascading around her and to her upper back. Black shades in place, she walked up to the theater entrance and already saw her sisters there.

Namine was dressed in light blue shorts and a white t-shirt while Kairi had on a bright pink skirt and a white t-shirt with a lighter shade of pink for a simple and stylish vest. Both girls had on the gold necklaces that she had gotten them years ago, just two after she had left. Simple chains with their names hanging by separate letters feel close to their necks, the first letters of each name having a single diamond stone in them.

"Hey guys." She greeted, stepping up to them.

"Hi Shadow!" Namine greeted with a smile. "We were talking, what kind of movie do you want to see?" Her sister gave her a look and Kairi giggled. "So you still do intense action and gory huh?"

"Of course." She replied with a smirk. "Just stay away from the chick flicks and I could care less."

"Sherlock Holmes?" Sora offered, looking at the list. "Or we can go cartoon remake and see the new Alice in Wonderland."

"Sherlock Holmes, that movie looks awesome." Roxas said. Namine nodded and Kairi voted yes. "What do you think Riku?" He was looking at the movie title with wariness.

Shadow leaned over when they looked away. "It's a great movie, if you love sarcastic full-of-yourself humor then it'll be fine."

"Thanks." He said quietly with a smirk. "Sure, I'm game."

"Alright, six tickets to Sherlock Holmes please." Shadow asked the person.

"Wait! Shadow, we have money for the tickets." Kairi objected.

"First round is on me, you guys can buy your own snacks, that's where the real money sucker is." She replied with a grin, giving the person the correct amount of money. When she got the tickets back she passed them out and they headed inside the cool building. The bright velvet rose and gold color was expertly placed throughout the large and spacious theater. In front of them was the large food stand and various other people were standing in line for their turn.

"What do you want Shadow?" Kairi asked, glancing at her sister.

She was glancing around in thought, the question pulling her out of it. "I'll just take a large Mt. Dew." She passed her sister five bucks. "Meet you at the theater." She called over her shoulder.

Riku gave his money to Sora and told him to get the usual, which was a large tub of popcorn with a slushi, before following her, thinking of getting some more info on the sudden appearance of a third sister.

Namine glanced over and saw him leaving before leaning over to Kairi. "Think he'll walk away alive?"

Kairi looked at the silver haired teen and giggled. "Depends on her mood."

In front of the theater Shadow pulled out her cellphone and glanced at the text message. _"Gone for two weeks and place is already turning to hell."_ She smirked at her friend Tyler's note, typing a quick response while she noticed a presence behind her. "Sent the underlings to get your food?" She said somewhat sarcastically as she closed the phone and turned around to lean against the wall, looking at Riku.

He smirked. "They know better than to attempt to rob me, so yeah." It was silent for a moment as she studied him.

"Depending on the subject, you have three questions max before they get here." She nodded once. "Go."

"How old are you?" He was straight to the point and had the same composed mask as her.

"21 in a few months."

"How have you been staying in touch with Kairi and Namine?"

"Mostly letters. Every other summer I'd get some time off and come down here when their parents were off traveling. Normally three days max."

"Why didn't they tell us?"

"Ask them, you get one more since I can't answer that one."

"Why do they call you Shadow when we are suppose to call you Shade?"

"Both names they thought for me when they were, let's say five. I didn't really care for my name and considered it fresh start. So I introduce myself as Shade, but only the ones close to me call me Shadow, so that's four people total."

This was when the rest of the group started walking up to them. "Times up." She said, and grinned when Kairi held out a soda to her. "Thanks."

"Your welcome." she said cheerfully. Sora and Riku held open the double doors while Roxas played snack carrier, walking through with armloads of food while the rest of them followed. "All the way up?" Namine asked.

"All the way up." Shadow confirmed, smirking at Roxas' groan.


	3. Payment

_The secret side of me, I never let you see  
__I keep it caged but I can't control it  
__So stay away from me, the beast is ugly  
__I feel the rage and I just can't hold it_

_It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls  
__It comes awake and I can't control it  
__Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head  
__Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end_

_I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster  
__I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster_

Shadow got up early that morning, this time around three, and packed up her few things into her backpack and got into a new set of clothes. She walked out of the guest room in the house and in the dark made her way to her sister's room. Deciding she'd let Kairi sleep, she crept into Namine's room, knowing the layout by heart and letting her adjusted eyes keep her from running her food into anything. She would have just left a note, but Namine had taken her leaving all those years ago the hardest, so she didn't want to freak her sister out in the morning.

"Namine." She said quietly, lightly resting a hand on the sleeping girl. "Hey, I need you to wake up."

"Mm?" Her head rolled over and eyes slowly opened. "Sissy?"

_Must be really out of it._ "Listen, I have to head back to Radiant Garden. But I will be back in two weeks, when school ends, ok?"

"Will you call?" She asked quietly.

"My number is both of your guy's cellphones, you can call any time." She said quietly. "Now get some sleep."

"Hug first, then sleep." She replied groggily. Shadow laughed and gave her sister a light hug.

"I'll talk to you later. Call if you need anything. Tell Kairi the same thing."

"Bye Shadow."

"Later." She replied with a grin.

XXXXXX

"Your sister is so cool! She's played almost every single horror video game there is!" Sora exclaimed loudly, as they walked through the school hallways, him walking backwards so he could face the group. "Why didn't you tell us about her?" He asked accusingly.

Kairi and Namine looked at each other, the blond answered. "It, hurt, to talk about her. It made us miss her more, and we knew she wouldn't like us sad, so we just didn't."

Roxas nodded. "That's understandable."

The bell rang and they all rushed to their classes, Namine and Kairi making it in time to see their English teacher turn around to start writing down the assignments for the day. Sliding into the seats, Namine looked over and grimaced when she saw Ashley, the schools little pep leader, giggling behind her hand with her little pack as she glanced over at her and her twin. "Kairi, they're doing it again." She whispered.

Her sister looked over and saw what she was talking about. "Don't worry Namine, they just can't find anything better to do with their time." She replied just as quietly as the teacher began.

It wasn't until lunch came around that Namine was walking towards the cafeteria. She had dropped by the art room to grab a few supplies for her upcoming project, so she had about twenty minutes of lunch left. The hallways were deserted as she walked, lightly humming to herself as she held her books against her chest. She briefly wondered if she'd have time for the beach afterwords. Deciding she'd ask Kairi.

"Hey blond chick." She spun around and saw a couple guys in their senior year walk up to her. Straight from the beginning she was shy around anyone, but a pack of guys with the smirks on their faces, it was more fear.

"Um, can I help you?" she asked timidly, shifting on her feet some as they got closer.

"Me and the guys made a bet, who could get you to cave first." Her eyes widened as she felt her back connect with the lockers.

"E-Excuse me?" _Not good, this is not good Namine!_

"You see." Brown hair with bands in front of his eyes leaned in close, resting an arm on the locker behind her. "We want to know who can get you to cave, so basically whoever pulls off a kiss without you screaming."

She tried to shrink back, but to no avail. When she opened her mouth, this time to call for someone, _anyone_, a firm hand was planed over her mouth. She whimpered some as he leaned in, struggling as two of his pals held her arms down on either side of her.

Then suddenly, he was five feet awake from her, on the ground, clutching his head while his legs looked like they had been slammed into by the calves. The one on her right had his head slammed into the lockers, causing him to release her and drop down. A firm grip appeared on her upper right arm and pulled her away before a foot connected with the remaining one's stomach.

She quickly glanced up, heart pounding in her chest, and saw that she was standing behind Shadow, a very pissed off Shadow to stand corrected. How did she know this? She didn't show any emotion, while her eyes looked ready to murder someone.

She walked over to the one that threatened to kiss her and put a heavy boot on his stomach causing him to grimace and moan. "Did she give you permission." When no answer came she pressed down harder. "Did she?"

Namine had to admit, at least he wasn't stupid when death was looking him in the eyes. "I never asked." He mumbled.

"Do it again, and next time I can promise that you ain't going to be walking away with those persistent lips of yours, and it will be because of the butchers knife that I will be using to complete the job. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied quickly, noticing how he could have sworn he saw the glint of something just under the jacket she wore.

She looked at him one more time, spared a glance at his friends who quickly retreated, and walked up to Namine. "He hurt you?"

"No."

"Kiss you?"

"No."

"Can you give me a reasonable excuse to kill him?" She asked it like she seriously wanted her to think of one so she could carry out the act.

But Namine quickly shook her head. "No! Shadow is OK."

Her sister rolled her eyes and motioned for Namine to follow. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"Art supplies." She replied. "But what are you doing here, didn't you leave?"

"I left my jacket." She replied, motioning to the black piece of clothing she wore. "Thought I'd stop by real quick. Glad I did."

"I'm glad too." She replied honestly, still trying to recover from the little incident. When they came into the cafeteria entrance she shook her head. "I'm good, I should get going."

Namine frowned some but nodded, knowing how the procedure worked. "See you soon?"

"End of the school year." She said, placing a hand on Namine's head as she walked past her, slightly messing with her hair. "See you later."

"Bye Shadow!" She called. When her sister disappeared from sight she took a breath before looking back at the doors. _Got lucky, got _so_ lucky._ She let out a nervous laugh before finally pushing open the doors, the sound of the loud cafeteria quickly greeting her.

XXXXXX

"Yoru!" Shade called, walking into her simple three bedroom apartment. One room served as her bedroom, the second served as an office, and the third, well, she didn't let anyone in there. Light gray walls made up the place and were offset by the black furniture. The place was far from depressing, and this was thanks to the large windows located throughout the building. In the living room to the right a large window made up most of the wall, a large TV, at least 82", with an Xbox 360 and a PS3 sitting underneath it as it rested on it's post. The games were actually out of their cases and in large CD case books that could hold fifty at a time. Two were dedicated to movies, the third one was all games, those she played consistently.

Hearing a bark, she grinned when the large Alaskan Husky came bounding from the back rooms and launched itself at her, causing her back to slam into the door as it started to lick her furiously, black tail wagging at top speeds. She was like any other husky of pure white fur with coal black, and the most beautiful blue eyes. Yoru barked happily. "I know, I missed you too." She scratched her ears affectionately before saying, "Down." The dog immediately dropped into a sitting position, looking at her expectantly. "Let me guess, snack?" Another bark. Shadow rolled her eyes as she walked into the kitchen to her left, grabbing a treat from a jar and tossing it to Yoru who caught it half way into the air. She proceeded to grab a soda from the fridge before she walked towards the back of the house. There were to doors on each end of the hallway. On the right set side-by-side was her bedroom and the bathroom, that her bedroom could open up to, and on the right was the prohibited room along with her office. At the end of the hallway was a large closet for miscellaneous things, she normally just kept coats or pre-made outfits in here in case she was in a rush.

"Yoru, did Carter try to explore?"

A happy bark came from the dog and she laughed, taking it as a no. Yoru was one of the best pets she could ever have. She knew the boundaries, and made sure other people knew them as well, making a perfect guard dog. Shadow didn't keep a home phone, just her cellphone. She had no messages, which she grinned at, it looked like they were keeping up their end of the bargain.

She flipped open her cellphone and hit a speed dial, holding to her ear as she started to sift through paperwork on the desk. "Yellow." Was the answer.

"She smirked. "Hey Carter, thanks for watching Yoru."

"No problem, but that dog has some serious guard issues."

"No, she's just a pro." She replied, studying one piece of paper. "How's the place holding up."

"They are seriously regretting giving you the summer off. But we haven't burned the place down yet so that's good. Everyone wants to meet your siblings."

Shadow laughed, a smirk settling on her lips. "We'll see. How the hell am I going to explain my work to them? And I'd rather not bring in the reason I haven't told them about it for the bast ten years."

"We've been keeping tabs on those guys too, it looks like they are backing up some after your little stunt."

"That's good to hear, maybe I will end up bringing them over. They're staying at my place for the summer so there will be plenty of time." She heard some talking on the other line and listened for a moment.

"Tyler says hey, and that he needs you back pronto, he's missing your pancakes apparently." She grinned as Yoru barked, probably hearing the name of the food.

"Tell him to suck it up. Hey, I gotta get going, there's some work I have to get done before I can officially call it vacation."

"Later Shade."

"Cya Carter." She hung up the phone and looked with a frown at the piece of paper. "Yoru, got one last order before I can call it, can you hang tight?" The dog whined slightly and nudged her leg with her nose, and Shadow patted her head. "I know, but it's gotta get done." She smiled down at the canine and grinned. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow, we'll hit the park for a couple hours." A happy bark was her reply as she walked out of the room, dialing a number quickly.

"Josh here."

"Hey Josh, it's Shade, I'm going to need some transportation."

She could hear the grin in his voice, "You got it."

XXXXXX

The helicopter's blades spun overhead with immense speed, keeping the large machine aloft as it hovered in place. Sage stood at the edge of the machine actually standing on the bar outside as she held on to the door. She was dressed in a tight black wet suit and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She hit a button on the headset she was wearing. "Thanks for the ride Josh."

"No problem Shade, I'll be waiting around." She lifted her hand in a wave before she tossed the headset aside and looked back below her at the trench that surrounded the large building. She undid the clip at her waist and tossed it aside as well before she knelt slightly, then jumped.

Executing a perfect dive, she curved her body as it entered the water, going at least a good twenty feet, and that's what she needed. Opening her eyes in the clear liquid she started swimming quickly under the water and to the sewer located at the bottom. She grabbed the covering and pulled, the metal easily slipping out. She swam through, working her way through the murky sewers and a minute later resurfaced. Taking a deep breath she quickly got her bearings before pulling herself up and out of the water on the side. She quickly stripped off the wetsuit and was dressed in a pair of shorts and tight shirt that left no extra cloth to hang loose. She quickly started to make her way to through the maze before coming up to the ladder she needed located at the end of the space. And with it a guard standing lazily in place, a gun loosely in his hands.

She took a knife from the sheath hugging her thigh. Balanced lightly in her hands, she spun the corner and and threw it, not giving the guard enough time to react as it slid cleanly into his throat. The body slid to the ground and she quickly made her way over, taking the knife and wiping it against his shirt to clean it before placing it back in its holder, and also taking his gun, bringing the sling over her and letting the machine gun rest on her back.

Quickly scaling the ladder she gently pushed aside the trap door and looked around. When she saw the coast was clear she went through and closed the metal tile again.

The laboratory was large, and completely white. Throughout the floor plan were tables, computers, various tubes and paperwork that she could care less about at at the moment. She didn't care about any of this at the moment as she made her way to the large and main computer at the far end of the room. Opening the small pouch on the side of her waist she slid out a flash drive and started typing, working her way through the various documents quickly. When she found the one centered around information on the Maryola family, she copied it to the drive and watched as the screen worked through her progress. A door opened and she spun around.

A lab worker walked in, looking at the clipboard in his hands. Glancing up through a pair of glasses, he saw the computer at work and frowned, walking over to it. Looking at the file his frown deepened. "What's-"

Something slammed into the back of his knees, causing him to drop while a hand covered his mouth, keeping from any sound coming from him. "Wrong place, wrong time." Shadow murmured, while pressing a pressure point, and watching as the body went limp. She dragged it over to one of the chairs and sat him up in front of a table, making it look like he was sleeping. The computer let off a ring and she glanced up to see that it had completed its task. Pulling out the drive she proceeded to delete all information on the computer concerning the subject before walking back to the lab worker.

Minutes later she walked out of the room through the main door, hair pulled back halfway now while the bottom half now fell down, dressed in a white coat that covered most of her legs while she wore the stolen blue shirt underneath, bringing it back just enough to where it looked like it fit her properly. The outfit was professional, considering the fact it wasn't her size clothes and they were stolen from a guy. Her footwear didn't bring much attention as she made her way to the elevator. When the doors slid open she smiled at the scientist inside, who glanced up at her before his eyes returned to the file in his hands. She stepped in and hit the first floor, which would actually cause the elevator to go up since the lab had been in the lower part of the building.

When his eyes did go down he noticed her tennis shoes and glanced back up. She looked over before looking ahead again. "My shift is done, I prefer spending the rest of the night in comfort." He simply nodded as he brought his cellphone out.

When he was about to bring it to his ear her hand came down and cracked his arm before the second one slammed his back against the wall, his head hitting it hard. She didn't have to do much after that, he was a weakling and was out in five seconds. "This is the guard station, what is it?" The phonecal remained unanswered. When the doors opened she stepped out before reaching in and sending him to the basement, which would be a quick trip because it was right below them and made no stops.

It wasn't until she hit the exit to the building that the alarms went off. The worker must have woken up, so she continued her pace to the doors. "Freeze!" She smirked, then picked up a run, slamming through the door as she made her way through the elegant courtyard, hearing the sound of pursuit behind her. When gunshots sounded she ducked behind a stone wall and quickly shed the lab coat and shirt, back in her usual outfit, the information safely stored in the pouch at her waist. She waited until there was a brief pause in the firing before spinning around from the safety of wall.

A guard to her right found her foot connecting with the side of his head while his gun was wretched free from his hand. The second guard jumped back and raised his gun to fire, but she ducked and brought her leg around, slamming it into his own and watching him fall. Someone came up from behind her and as she felt his arm wrap around her neck she brought her elbow back hard, hitting him in the stomach before taking her head and bringing it back, feeling it hit her attackers and his grip loosen so she could break out of it. When the sound of the helicopter came into earshot she glanced over and saw it now getting ready lower.

The final guard had a grin on his face as he pointed the gun at her. "I'm sure to get a raise for this."

She smirked, and as his finger went to pull the trigger she dodged to the left and tackled him to the ground, feeling the round graze her shoulder as she took him by the head and slammed it into the ground, hearing the crack before she quickly got up and turned to the helicopter as it settled down and walked towards it, grinning at Josh. He returned it, but when she saw shock cross his eyes she spun around and saw the guards barely holding on to consciousness as they aimed the gun.

The gun came up, and fired.

However, it was the guard who dropped dead, the gun falling from his grasp. Shadow lowered the one in her hand and continued on to the chopper, quickly climbing in and settling into the seat as he brought it up again. "Glad to see you made it out alive." He commented.

"That's always a plus." She agreed, taking a piece of cloth from him and holding it against the bleeding cut.

"Want me to drop you off at the shop or take you straight home?"

"I think a helicopter at two in the morning would freak people out, the shop is fine." She smirked. "Besides, my ride is there."

"True, but I could always let it be subjected to one of my many successful experiments."

"Touch it and I will rip your head from your shoulders with my bare hands." she growled. "I love that motorcycle. Best one yet."

"Besides it's the only one that you haven't crashed yet." He laughed.

"Yes, I like it enough to not crash it."

"What about the truck? I thought you like it enough to not kill it." He asked.

Shadow groaned, "Damn, I did love that truck. But that one was an accident, caught up in a firefight on a way back from a mission and it resulted in the engine exploding, taking the rest of the vehicle with it."

"Ouch."

XXXXXX

_Dear Miss Shade,_

_My name is John Maryola and I am in dire need of your services. Your reputation proceeds you, and I pray that you will be willing to help me. I'm the Governor of my hometown here in Delthern, and with a family of three. My wife, and two daughters. Lately there have been threats towards my family that have steadily getting worse. The agency that claims that they will carry out their threats soon, but haven't found anything to help the matters._

_With this note are the letters themselves and the name of the people that they call themselves by. I realize that you are going on a vacation soon for three months, everyone has made it clear that these are rare for you to do and that you don't take any jobs during the time. I beg of you, if this letter makes it in time, find these people and any information they have on my family so that way I may know how to strengthen the defense network to keep them safe._

_Thank you for your time and sondieration._

_John Maryola._

XXXXXX

The Governor lived in one of those mini mansions, and she could tell that he valued security of looks. Instead of splurging on displays, he did so on keeping his household safe, which made her even more pleased that she took on the job, seeing as it showed she hadn't just wasted her time. When she made it to the outside gates the guards stopped her. "Name."

"Shade."

"I'm going to need a last name Miss."

"Don't got one, call up the Governor and let him know I'm here."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you don't get in without clearance, and I'm going to need a name, a _full_ name."

Shade instead just pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number as the guard continued insisting upon a name. "Hello?"

"Governor Maryola, would you like this information or not?" She asked, then held the phone just out enough so he could hear the guard.

"Wait wait wait!" He said frantically. "Give me a second." The guards office phone rang and he walked over to pick it up. "Yes?" She watched as he paled some, then started to stutter. A mere minute later he simply hit a button, the gates opened, and he waved her in. "Sorry for the trouble." He muttered.

She drove through the gates, her hair staying behind her as she pulled her motorcycle to a stop. It was now pushing five in the morning, and the household was still asleep.

She climbed up the steps and before she even made it to the large double doors they opened to reveal the Governor of Delthern. Brown hair neatly cut and somewhat short, at least a few inches shorter than her, and was slightly older, maybe pushing his high forties.

"You took the job?" He said, somewhat disbelieving. She only called to let people know she refused the job, if she took it, she didn't bother. Instead of answering she just looked at him before he seemed to realize something. "Oh yes, yes. Please, come in here, we can speak privately."

A minute later she was in a large study, nothing over the top but still doable. The Governor sat down and was about to speak but she held up a hand for silence. "They've got pictures of you and your family so they will be able to verify targets. Your patrols are mapped out and they have structure layout, with the target's rooms marked. They have your guards profile information as well, just for extra measure, and know who does what around here, including staff routines and switch outs. By the sounds of it they plan on striking soon, so you better get started on your defensive strategies." With this said she tossed the flash drive to him, letting it land on the desk before him as he stared down at it .

He gulped and looked up at her. "Thank you, thank you so much." His eyes widened like he just remembered something. "Ah! Right." Ripping open a drawer he took out an envelope and presented it to her. "Thank you for your services, they are much appreciated."

She took the envelope and sifted through it's contents quickly. "You overpaid."

"I insist." He said. "This information is invaluable."

She ripped out the extra thousand and put it on his desk. "You pay what you say you will, nothing more, nothing less."

"But-"

"Goodbye." She said, turning around to leave the premises, just with ten thousand on her hands.


	4. Party

**Sucky chapter, and also short, I know. But kinda a filler. Next few days are going to be kinda slow because I'm going on a trip that's going to take a while but I'll try to update while I'm away. Also recovering from being drugged up at the hospital so this should be interesting. Thanks for hanging in there.  
-Shadoword**

_You think the way you lives okay  
__You think posing  
__Will save the day  
__You think we don't see  
__That you're running  
__Better call your boys  
__'Cause I'm coming_

_You can't be me  
__I'm a rock star  
__I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car  
__I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far  
__  
It's almost over now  
__It's almost over now_

It was that day. The one where teachers could care less if you learned anything or not, where whispers of parties and get togethers, and students were sitting so far at the edge of their seats that you'd think they were sitting on air. The clock slowly ticked towards its destination, and even the teachers were eying it time to time.

The hand struck 12. A bell rang. Chaos ensued.

Students scrambled out of their seats and fought their way out the doors, basking in the freedom of summer vacation. The buzz was all throughout the school, and it was like everyone was on a high as they grabbed their things and headed for the school exit, not a depressed soul being located in the crowd.

"Freedom!" Kairi giggled as Sora screamed the single word while the group walked down the steps, everyone smiling and pleased with the fact. "Sweet freedom! Oh how I missed thee!"

"Can you seriously get any more hyper?" They all turned and saw Shadow walking up to them, smirking at Sora.

"Actually, with enough soda and cotton candy, yeah." He replied, like he was stating a fact.

"Trust me, it's possible." Roxas said, shaking his head and causing his blond and spiky hair to move with it.

Kairi and Namine gave their sister a hug and she returned it. "You guys want to get some food?" She offered.

"Sure." Kairi replied. "You three want to come?" She offered to the three guys.

"What do you have in mind?" Roxas asked.

"Kairi and Namine were telling me about a pizza place I wouldn't mind checking out." She replied. "Come on, I got my truck with me."

"You have a truck?" Namine said.

Shadow nodded. "The motorcycle is for when I know I'm free ridin' it for a couple days, I take the truck for basic things like groceries and picking up passengers." She smirked. "So you in?"

Roxas and Sora immediately agreed, it concerned food so why wouldn't they? Riku nodded to accept the invitation and they all walked to the parking lot. When Shade pulled out the keys they saw a large black truck that could easily sit four in the back, with a long flatbed. The tires looked like they could rock climb anything and the entire vehicle was extremely clean. "Is it new?"

"This? No, going on just a year, had to replace the other one." she replied, heading for the drivers side. Inside the car was black leather, basically the color dominating everything. She didn't really have any personal items in there, so it wasn't much besides clean and big.

"What happened to the last one?" Sora asked.

"Crashed it." She replied matter-of-factly.

Everyone looked at each other with uncertainty as she started the car. "Relax, it was the other drivers fault." She said, catching the look.

The drive didn't take long, and everyone was quickly at ease when they realized that Shadow did in fact know how to drive. When they got to the Kingdom's Pizzeria the place was just starting to pick up speed. They were able to find a booth in the corner and Riku and Sora went to get the food. Shadow shrugged her jacket off and tossed it into the booth before sitting down at the edge. She had a shirt that instead of sleeves wrapped around her neck to stay up, looking like a normal t-shirt that was held up by this and clearly exposed her tattoo. Blue jeans didn't really hug her body, instead flaying out slightly at the bottom and she had on regular tennis shoes this time. Her dog tags were still in place and this time Kairi fully noticed them. "Where did you get these? " She asked.

Shadow lifted them over her head and showed her the tags. "Back where I worked, they had certain ways of saying you were officially part of the force. You get your name engraved into dog tags in any type of writing style. I choose Old English." They looked at the tags, and took note of how Shade didn't completely hand them over.

"So they're pretty important?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, to me at least." She replied, just as three large pizza's were brought to their table. "Alright, one cheese, one pepperoni, and one decked out with everything imaginable." Sora said happily as they slid them onto the table. Plates were passed around and soon everyone was digging in. Shadow had to admit, her sister's friends sure did bring high amusement to any situation.

Minutes later Shade found herself playing twenty questions, being drilled by the twin's friends. "Favorite color?"

"Gray borderline black."

"Food?"

"Decked out burritos."

"Movie?"

"Silent Hill."

"Music?"

"Everything." Kairi and Namine giggled, knowing this was a fact. She took out her iPod and passed it to Roxas to scroll through as the questions continued.

"Books?"

"Rarely read, but they normally are modern day action."

"Social life?"

"People can be idiots, a rare few of them aren't mindless morons." She replied with complete seriousness, earning a laugh from everyone.

"Favorite candy?"

"Skittles."

"Favorite drink?"

"Arizona Tea." Sora sat there thinking of more questions and Riku came up with one.

"So what do you like to do with free time?"

"Shooting range for sure." She said. "Guns, bows, if it can be shot, I love it. Unfortunately free time is rare so that kind of target practice is as well." She didn't have to include that she got plenty of time with guns just on a regular daily basis.

They fell back into a moment of eating their pizza before Roxas brought up something. "Are you guys going to the party down by the beach tonight? A few of the richer students are using the place to through an end of the school year bash."

"Sounds great!" Of course Kairi would immediately agree.

"It would be nice." Namine said. "Will you be attending?"

Roxas and Sora were quick to say yes, but Riku declined. "Nah, got some work that has to get done. My parent's need me to take the car in to get checked out and I refuse to leave it with the idiots who run the place."

"Aw, come on Riku, it would be fun!" Namine said. But he still passed.

"How about your bring the car by and I'll take a look at it." Shadow said, looking down at her cellphone. Kairi and Namine both had their heads snap up in surprise. Shadow offering to help someone that she didn't know for long? Unheard of. You had to be on a certain level with her before offered anything to you.

Riku glanced at Kairi and Namine, who quickly nodded their heads when Shade was glancing away. "Sounds good. I'd appreciate it."

"No problem, I can drop by your place or you can come to their home." She said, motioning vaguely to the twins.

"I'll bring it over to your place." He said.

XXXXXX

"Screw it." Shade muttered, glaring at the underside of Riku's car. "Basically your shocks absorbers and struts are completely shot, that's why your car isn't riding as smoothly as it used to. Unfortunately, you're going to need a completely new set." She pulled out a cellphone after she slid out and dialed a number.

"Thanks for figuring out what the problem was, can you suggest a mechanic?"

"I know one." She replied, bringing the cellphone up to her ear and leaning against the car. The phone rang three times and before it could hit the message machine the phone was answered. She was hearing plenty of cussing in the background before she actually was addressed.

"What the hell do you want?" A rough voice yelled, and she knew she was on speaker.

"Hello Cid." She greeted calmly.

"Shade? That you kid?" He asked loudly, then cursed some more as something crashed in the background. "Get that damn thing off the ground!"

"How's the shop coming along?" She inquired politely.

"People are damn idiots." He replied. "So what do ya need kid?"

"Just replacement shock absorbers and struts for a car, got the time?"

"Of course, bring it by." He said gruffly, hanging up immediately after. Shadow grinned and hung up the phone as well. "Come on, he can take care of it now."

XXXXXX

Shadow walked into the large garage that housed perfectly lined cars across the cement, at least almost a football field long. She didn't seem shocked by it, as mechanics quickly rushed out of the building as it neared nine that night, almost seeming frightened by something. Of course, it was for good reason.

"Get the fuck out of my garage you useless rats!" Shadow felt a grin come back on her face as she walked, Riku following behind her as the loud voice carried out through the entire place.

Shadow walked around the corner to see Cid there, mumbling to himself. Blond hair swept back and held back bye a pair of mechanic goggles and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Wearing a light blue shirt and dark green pants that complimented the shirt nicely. He wore brown gloves that went up to his elbows and were covered in the grime that came from working on cars, but Shade knew he worked on other things as well.

She motioned for Riku to wait and walked up to Cid, who was working on a piece of an engine displayed in front of him. "Afternoon Cid."

He grunted in reply, continuing to work, "How's it goin'?"

"Alright."

"Rumor has it you're on vacation, that true?" She nodded. "It's about bloody time." He said. "You know how long you've been needing one? Since I caught you taking that job with only three hours of sleep between that one and the previous job."

"Yeah yeah, but hey, I lived."

"Got yourself shot in the arm too!" He said in a low hiss, noticing Riku was behind them. She was thankful he hadn't said that to loud. "What do ya want?" He barked at him.

"Shade said you could help me out with my car." He replied, respectfully.

"Ah, so your the runt she's helping out, what the hell did you do to get her to do that?"

"He's a friend of Kairi and Namine." She said, and Cid seemed to accept this.

"Makes sense." He grunted. "No one get's up to that level that fast unless you've got a foothold."

"The car is already in place, how long do you think it will take?" Shadow asked as they walked to the car at the end of the row.

"Thirty max." He said with a grin.

Riku found himself waiting far away from the two as Cid worked on the car and Shade talked to him. He had to admit, he was kinda getting bored, but was contemplating what Cid had said. _'No one get's up to that level that fast unless you've got a foothold.' _He guessed Shade only helped certain people, and being friends with Kairi and Namine apparently got him his foothold.

After deciding it was an interesting fact he glanced up when his name was called. Quickly his hands reached out and caught the iPod Touch as it was tossed his way, nodding his thanks to Shade who nodded in return and went back to talking with Cid.

When Riku put the earphones in she went on to talk about more familiar matters with the older man. "So how have thing been?"

"Not bad except for the rats that I hired." He growled. "You were the only person I trained that paid off in the end."

"Sorry to hear it." She said, smirking slightly.

"Wipe that smirk off your face." Even under the car he knew her so well.

"Of course sir. So have you heard from the guys?"

"They ask about you all the frickin' time. Your leave is hittin' them hard."

"Why? All I am is basically a mercenary, on the side fighting trainer." She said. "They shouldn't be so bad."

"But you gotta remember kid, you basically are the one who got them to do what they do now. You make sure they don't screw things up." She was slightly surprised, this was a compliment coming from him. She didn't acknowledge it, knowing he'd get angry if she did.

"I'm sure they can live for three months." She finally said.

"Done." He said, coming back from the underneath of the car. "The runt should be good now."

"Thanks Cid, appreciate it."

"No problem kid, it's gettin' late, you should head home and get some rest, use your vacation as a chance to actually sleep like a normal person."

She laughed. "I thought you'd realize by now, there's no way in hell I will ever be normal." He grunted and shook his head. "Right, forgot who was I was talking to. Go on, get out of here."

XXXXXX

Riku drove her to the twin's house after that, noticing how the car was definitely fixed now as it glided through the streets. Shade had her head resting against the seat and her eyes closed, and he thought she looked pretty tired. But even in the short time he had known her, he knew she wasn't asleep. "Thanks for taking care of the car."

"No problem." She replied. After a moment of silence she went on. "Five questions this time."

"What is your sleep schedule like when you're working?"

"Depending on the specific job that week. Normally I can be in bed by eleven and I'm up at four."

"Would it be useless to ask about your job?" He inquired, smirking slightly.

She grinned and opened her eyes to look at him. "Yeah, it would, so I'm going to let that question not strike against you, how's that?" He laughed and shook his head.

"So do you know your biological family?"

"When I left, they were actually the reason. I spent a week or two with them before I left. Haven't seen them since and I could really care less. Three more."

"How do you handle stress?"

"I handle it pretty well, in the field I work your constantly on the spot and having pressure putting on you. When it seriously gets to much, I don't cry, I actually tend to feel bad for the sucker who interrupts my gym time, because they become my punching bag. Great anger management."

"Do you plan on coming to live here on Destiny Islands?"

"Right now I'm in Radiant Gardens, and I really like it there, so I'm thinking I'll stay there. Kairi and Namine are going to crash with me for a bit over the summer while their parents are on business across the country. Final one."

He thought for a minute. "What do you think of Sora, Roxas, and I?" Riku wasn't entirely sure if she would answer, but it was worth a shot.

"Sora is always on a sugar high and radiating happiness, don't know if he was dropped on his head or something but he always seems to make my sisters happy so I like him for it. Roxas seems more like the shield that takes the brunt of Sora's attitude so that's good, and he's pretty good and making sure the girls always have things to do. From what I hear he comes up with a lot of the outgoing activities.

"Then of course there is you. Level headed, responsible, makes sure no one kills themselves, Riku." He smirked. "Honestly you're easily earning points, unlike twiddle one and two you know how to keep emotions in check, but at the same time you have to find some sort of outlet or else they are going to eat you alive. Kairi and Namine are always saying you're looking out for the entire group, and you have that leadership aspect about you. Overall, very nice." She smirked. "That answer your question?"

"How did you know all of that?" He was mostly referring to the part about his emotions, surprised about how right she was.

"I'm pretty good at deducting facts about people from what I see." She said. "It comes in handy in my field of work."

Riku just nodded as he pulled up into the driveway of her house. Kairi and Namine were already home and it was pushing ten that night. "See you later." She said, climbing out of the car. He just nodded and she closed the door, lifting her hand in a wave as she walked up to the door and opened it before disappearing inside.


	5. Festival

**Ok, quick note about the main characters name. I will have it explained in the next chapter, but so you know now when the twins gave her that name they aren't referring to something along the lines of the shade you'd find under a tree. More like a person who has the ability to follow in someone's tracks, like a shadow. So think someone who can track and follow someone without them knowing it, not stalker, but having that ability to just blend.  
-Shadoword**

_Vacation's where I wanna be  
__Party on the beach where the fun is free  
__We don't need a holiday, it's time to celebrate_

_'Cause I need a break, I need a vacation. _

Shadow walked through her sister's large house and to their rooms, already dressed and ready to go. It was one week into their summer vacation and their parents were gone, and they were coming home with her for a bit. She grinned as she walked up to Namine's door. She had to admit, she was excited. It would be a chance to for sure catch up on all the things she had missed over the years.

Opening the door and stepping in, she saw Namine's room was spotless clean and her outfit for the day was resting neatly at the end of her bed. Her things were already in the truck so all she had to do was get up and dressed. It was only a two hour drive, but the earlier they left the sooner Yoru would have new play toys. "Namine." Shadow said, louder than she had last time. "Time to get up."

To her surprise the blond woke up quickly. "Ok, just give me a few minutes." She yawned as she pushed herself up and the covers off.

"Sounds good, I'll make you guys breakfast when we get to my place." She left her sister to go and get Kairi, also noticing how her room was just as clean as Namine's. Her outfit required more trinkets and such, and her makeup for the day was also displayed on her desk so she didn't have to sort through her many choices. Shadow admitted that she was happy to see this. "Hey Kairi, get up and get ready."

"Got it." She mumbled, throwing the covers off and slugishly getting out of bed. "What time is it?"

"Five."

"It's supposed to be summer vacation." She replied.

"Yeah but the sooner we get there the sooner Yoru can see you two." Shadow made her way to the door. "I'll feed you when we get there."

It only took both sisters about fifteen minutes max to get dressed and ready, so at 5:20 that morning they were getting into Shadow's truck after confirming the entire house had been locked up. "What do you guys want to drink?" She asked, planning on heading to the gas station first to get something to wake them up.

"Caffeine." They said simultaneously. Shade smirked and nodded while she pulled out of the driveway to the house, watching the two in the back seat with her rear view mirror. They were striving to hold onto consciousness but failing miserably, so when their eyes finally closed for good she drove past the gas station and just headed straight for Radiant Garden.

XXXXXX

When they were half an hour away the sisters woke up more refreshed so they got to see where their sister lived. Radiant Gardens was a place that was composed of mostly stone arches and solid buildings with shops, but at the same time while it looked like a place that could defend against a siege the atmosphere was light and the people that walked the streets seemed to be alive and happy with their lives. "This place is so amazing Shade." Kairi said, watching as they drove over one of the stone paths that helped cross over the small stream.

"I like it here. A friend of mine from work recommended it for me." She replied, thinking of the scarred weapon master. "He still has a house here where he has vacations whenever he gets them."

"Does he live close by?"

"Actually my place is closer to the outskirts of the city, his is more inner, close to all the action." She explained as she drove, and they noticed that more mountains were coming into view.

Shadow's home on the outside showed a lot of work had gone into the yard. Lush green grass surrounded the place and the yard had a large tree that was off to the side of the walkway that led up to the doorway, providing plenty of shade. It was just a simple white with a solid black roof as shingles were neatly layered as they made their way down. Her windows were large but solid black curtains were drawn over the windows. Small bushes surrounded the perimeter of the area while the backyard was fenced off, but the largeness of the area could be seen from here.

"Shadow! This is beautiful!" Namine said. "Did you do this?"

"I like the work." She replied, grabbing her sister's bags and taking them up the walkway. She unlocked the door and cracked it open. "Do me a favor, stand over there on the grass." She motioned to the spot under the tree.

The confused sisters did as they were told before Shadow quickly stepped in and closed the door, hearing her voice lightly from the other side as she seemed to speak with someone else. "She has a room mate?"

"I thought she didn't like people living with her." Kairi replied.

"Just go easy on them." Shadow said, finally opening the door.

They watched as a a ball of fur sped out of the door and charged them. "Don't kill them!" Shadow shouted, smirking as the girls squealed at the sight of Yoru, who tackled them both to the ground and started her furious licking. The Alaskan Husky quickly had the favor returned as Kairi and Namine started petting her and scratching her behind her ears. "Not even two minutes and you're spoiling her, grats." Shadow said, coming back from putting their bags up.

"She's adorable Shadow!" Kairi exclaimed. "How did you get her again?"

"She actually had caught a ride without one of our agents knowing it, and ended up back at base. Instead of getting rid of her I decided to keep her, she quickly became a part of our huge family we had going on." She replied, sitting against the tree as her dog quickly leaped up and sat next to her owner, resting her nose on Shade's shoulder, earning her a scratch between the ears. "She's been one of my best friends since."

"Can we go see the rest of your house?" Namine asked.

"Sure, it's going to be your place for a month." She replied, and the twins got up to see the rest of the place.

They studied each detail, looking at the subtle and small ways that she expressed herself. When they got to her bedroom the single person bed was tucked away in the corner to the right while a large stereo system was on the wall opposite to it to the left. A close was right next to the stereo and that about made up the room. Very simple and empty. When they turned back to leave they saw that the wall that made up the one the door was on was filled from top to bottom. Pictures Kairi had taken and ones Namine had drawn were hanging carefully and framed on the wall. School pictures from each year they had been on Destiny Islands were placed next to each other in order along the top rim and they could see how they grew throughout the years. Drawings from when they were little were also framed and displayed, and when Kairi got older pictures from a camera become for frequent while Namine's drawings got better. Both sisters stared in awe.

"She kept them." Kairi whispered, studying one from when she was four. "I can't believe she kept them."

"Why wouldn't I?" Shadow appeared in the door frame, arms crossed over her chest and looking at them. "This is as artsy as it gets."

Namine giggled when she saw a picture of them with the guys back at the park, Sora had gotten a hold of the camera and they had taken one of the most stupidest pictures ever, but one that was apparently worthy of being up on her wall. "Every single one?"

"Some are more special than others, and those are placed elsewhere, but yeah, every single one. It was the only way I got to see how you guys were holding up." She shrugged.

"I remember this one!" Kairi said, pointing at a picture at the top. It was the same one she had in her locker, with the twins tackling Shadow to the ground. "I kept it in my locker at school."

"I remember that too, and I remember how sore my back was afterwords." She replied, and they laughed. A good half hour passed as they sat on Shadow's bed and recounted all the memories, Kairi and Namine on the bed while Yoru laid across Shadow's legs while the girl stroked her head. When it finally hit nine that morning they decided to finally eat some food.

"Come on, we'll hit one of the shops I know that has an awesome breakfast menu." Shadow said, passing her keys that were on the counter.

Kairi and Namine walked out of the door and waited as Shadow still held the door open. "Come on Yoru." She called, and the dog walked out quickly before the door was locked behind them, following close to her owner's side and matching her pace.

"Do they allow dogs?" Namine asked.

"Everyone here knows Yoru. One time when she was still younger she had gotten out and I end up getting a call that she had actually gotten into a shop, the same one we're going to now, and that she was behind the window barking at people who were pulling up for their food. It startled them at first but she didn't hurt anyone, so they just laughed it off. She easily can get a free meal now."

"You're kidding." Kairi said.

"Dead serious." Shadow replied. The trio walked opposite of the road they had taken and after a few minutes of being surrounded by field they found themselves in a small district that created a circular setting with shops outlining the area. The area was filled with colors and the center of the area had a small pond in the center with a stone wall only a foot high surrounding it so people could sit along the edges. The atmosphere was peaceful as everyone talked and enjoyed the day as the sun shone on them, but not providing the heat that Destiny Islands did.

Shade took them to one of the shops that was a small building with the door being held open by a rod at the top. Inside the temperature was cool and comfortable, painted neutral colors with a counter in the right corner while the rest of the space was dedicated to seating in simple metal chairs and small tables. Behind the counter a girl with simple brown hair that cascaded down her back in curls stood, her hair being held back by a red ribbon. She had on a simple pink dress that was hidden behind the black apron she wore, and soft blue eyes turned to see them come in before a smile came across her face. "Good morning Shade." She greeted.

"Hello Aerith." She replied, calmly. "These are my sister's, Namine and Kairi, guys, this is Aerith, she's the one that called when Yoru broke in."

The girl laughed, and Kairi guess she was a year or two older than Shadow. "It's nice to meet you." They both said. Yoru barked and ran up to the counter, jumping up on the other side so her paws rested on it so the woman could give her a soft scratch. Shadow rolled her eyes as she walked up to the counter. "How have things been?" She asked.

"Pretty good. These two are staying with me for a month while their parents are gone." She replied, and the twins smiled as she stated the fact.

"That's wonderful! You guys will like it here, everyone's really nice and there is a lot of things you can do." Aerith replied, making a large drink with the blender in the back. "So what can I get you two?"

"Shadow can order first." Namine said politely. Aerith glanced over at the name 'Shadow' and looked at Shade, who nodded as if to confirm the title. "Aerith knows what I'm going to get, so go ahead." She replied, stepping back and pulling out her cellphone quickly to check something. After some thought Namine got a piece of raisin bread toast with a small coffee while Kairi got one of the croissant with a small drink as well, and both girls were shocked by the large size of the food and drinks, seeing as they looked huge. Shadow had a large drink that definitely wasn't coffee, more like a frosty, and she had a plain bagel.

Kairi and Namine sat down at one of the tables while Shadow paid. Aerith spoke quietly as the two girls ate. "Carter came in yesterday, apparently your replacement trainer isn't really able to take on your group." She giggled as she gave Shade back her change.

"He better catch on quickly then." She replied, taking a sip of her drink and tasting the chocolate in it. "Or else he's screwed."

"Are you going to bring those two by?" Aerith inquired.

"No, I don't want to get into details about my work." She replied. The brunette nodded in understanding. "Are you going to take them to the festival tomorrow?"

"They like that kind of stuff so I figured I should. Why?"

The girl smiled and leaned over the counter so she could talk to the other two. "Do you guys have dresses for the festival tomorrow?"

"What colors?" Kairi asked.

"You dark blue or white." She replied, and Shade smirked.

"Still following that tradition?"

"Of course." She smiled. "You still haven't been to one completely." Shade was about to say something, but the girl cut her off. "And no, this time no excuses, because you're supposed to be on vacation." Shade winced as her only excuse was ripped from her.

"So how does the tradition go?" Namine asked.

"The festival is composed of dark blue and white in colors. The girls wear those colors while the guys have to wear something black at least. At the festival there is dancing, great food, and music all night long."

"Sounds fun!" Kairi said. "Is there a place where we can buy dresses?"

"For this time of year there is a shop dedicated solely to them." Aerith confirmed. "If you want we can go after I get off work, which is in an hour."

The twins looked at Shadow, who nodded. before smiling and quickly agreeing.

XXXXXX

That night the girls were beyond excited. As they had been shopping with Aerith for a few hours, Shadow having opted to go run around doing last minute errands instead, they had witnessed as their sister's home city was quickly turned into a large festival setting. The celebration wasn't confined to one area, everyone they looked even as they walked street after streets the colors blended into the settings. The dark blue was complimented with the white and they could see even the black helped add to the festivities.

So that night they had stayed at Aerith's home and dressed up so they didn't have to go far. Shadow had promised to be there half an hour before they would leave to help them finish up. The girls had quickly taken to Aerith and liked her, so they agreed to the proposal.

Which led to their current setting. Aerith was already dressed and standing in the front of her home while the girls were stepping out of the back room. Kairi was wearing in a white dress that at along the edges of the bottom dark blue made a solid stripe. Thin straps held the fabric up and it was more form fitting that her sisters.

Namine in turn was wearing a knee-high dress that flowed slightly when she walked, and dark blue dotted flowers were throughout the dress and her shoulder straps were thicker than Kairi's. Her hair hung regularly around her face while Kairi's had the two strips that framed her face pulled back by a black clip.

"You two look wonderful!" Aerith said. She was wearing a simple white dress that tied around her neck. "Do you guys like them?"

"I don't see why not, they look great." Both girls smiled and turned to their sister who had walked in, before their mouths dropped open. "No way!"

Shade's dress was a long black dress that hugged her form before loose fabric flowed only slightly, not as drastic as Kairi's. One shoulder was bare while the other had two long pieces of cloth tied around the side of her neck, the extra cloth falling over her bare back. The dark blue was incorporated into the shading of the bottom as it faded from the end of the dress and slowly crawled to the top before disappearing at her waist. Her hair was neatly pulled back into a high ponytail and she didn't wear any make up, though that hardly mattered as the two sisters stared at her.

"Shadow you look beautiful." Namine said in awe, walking up to your sister. "I dind't know you had a dress.

"This is the only occasion I'll wear it for, well, that and you guy's concerts." She smiled at her and Kairi. "You both look great, nice dresses."

Kairi smiled at the compliment. "Thanks Shadow." Her sister smiled at her before looking at Aerith. "Thanks for letting these two get ready here."

"It was no problem, you were telling the truth about these two when you said they knew their manners." Both girls blushed and Shade chuckled. "So are you ready to go?"

"Yes!" The twins said excitedly. Their older sibling just nodded and they walked out of the home and after Aerith locked it up they started for the main town plaza, already thrown into the cheery atmosphere. The streets were crowded as people cheerfully walked throughout the streets as white lights were strung as lanterns throughout the area. Talking worked to overcome the thousands of voices as adults dressed in elaborate outfits walked throughout the area, children in similar colors ran in between everyone, squealing with delight as they held candy or equivalent sweet food or toys in their hands.

"This is amazing!" Kairi said. "What are they celebrating?"

"Today was the same day many years ago a devastating fight ended that nearly destroyed Radiant Gardens. During that time it had been called Hallow Bastion, but when the small war ended people were able to slowly rebuild their lives, and Radiant Gardens was once again alive. So we have this festival in remembrance." Aerith explained.

"How long does it normally last?"

"All night long. At eight when the night is it's darkest that's when it officially starts, signified by the fireworks, before around five in the morning people will head home." Shadow explained, walking in between her sisters.

The girls walked up to one of the many shops that had been converted to a drink stand and everyone ordered something. The teenagers had soda's while Aerith got a light alcohol beverage and Shadow just got a beer. "You drink?" Namine asked almost worriedly.

Shadow smiled and shook her head. "Regularly? Not even close. I've probably had four beers max in my life, Mt. Dew is more my forte."

"But didn't you just turn 21?"

Aerith and Shadow glanced at each other, the brunette giggling while their sister smirked. "Story for another time." They ushered the two towards one of the temporary steps that had been made during the day that led to the roofs of various stores, the tops cleared to reveal large platforms everywhere. The steps had white and blue ribbons intertwined inside them as they climbed before they reached the top to reveal the crowd that was there.

"'Bout bloody time!" Cid growled. "What took you so long?" Shadow smirked and motioned to the two girls on either side of her, before realization dawned on him. "Damn." He muttered, taking a long drag of his cigar.

"Heya Shade!" A girl with short black hair and in a night blue dress bound up to them, grinning widely. "How's it goin'?"

"Guys, this is Yuffie. Tall, blond, and angry is Cid." The man smirked at her definition.

"Hey! She described you perfectly!" Yuffie cheered.

"That's not a surprise." They turned and Shade grinned. "Hello Carter." She greeted. The man had dark African skin and was dressed in simple black suit pants and a white shirt. He was tall, at least six foot, and had silver piercings in each ear. He was big, as in it was obvious he worked out or had a very demanding job. Namine and Kairi forced themselves not to gape as he came over and gave Shade a tight hug. "Man it's good to see you."

"Same here." She pulled back and turned to her sisters. "This is Kairi and Namine."

"Ah, I've heard a lot about you two." He said, giving them a warm smile. As intimidating as he looked, he was actually very friendly. "Shadow speaks highly of you."

The two looked at each other, then Shadow, who didn't look angry, then Carter. He had used her nickname, he had her respect. Therefore, he had theirs. "It's a pleasure to meet you mister Carter." Kairi said politely. Namine nodded in agreement, her sister about summing it up for the two of them.

"The pleasure is all mine." He glanced over at Shade who was talking to the others. "From what I see, you two are what keep her going, and that speaks for itself." The two girls beamed, happy to hear that their sister talked about them, and didn't seem to have abandoned them in her somewhat social life.

"So where do you know her from?" Namine asked.

"Your sister and I have known each other since she was ten." He said, a fond smile on his lips. "I was only sixteen when I met her, but we've been good friends for quite a while."

"Carter, we were going to grab drinks, you want something?" Shade asked, walking over to them briefly.

"I'm good." He replied, Kairi and Namine glanced at each other, grins on their faces.

"Make sure these two don't tackle you, or else there is no way in hell you're getting up." She said casually, proceeding down the steps. As soon as her head disappeared they rounded on him. "So what was Shade like growing up?" Namine asked first.

Carter raised an eyebrow at this. "Honestly? First couple years she made our lives living hell." He chuckled. "But that's what we loved about her. She challenged everyone, pushed us, just as hard as she pushed herself. She made sure that no one looked down on her, and if they did, they'd soon regret it."

"How did you meet her?"

He thought for a moment. "How much do you know about what happened after she left?"

"Her parents were awful and her dad lost her in a bet before someone else took her in." Kairi said.

"I was basically a member of the family that had won her over in a bet. At first, we didn't get along at all. But hell, her own flesh and blood and used her in a game of poker, who wouldn't be pissed? But after a year or so she finally started warming up, death threats were replaced by severed limbs." All three laughed at this. "Honestly, your sister seriously changed my life, all of our lives, for the better. Couldn't have asked for a better friend and comrade." Namine noticed his choice of words, and stored this information away for later.

"So...what does she say, I mean about us?" Kairi asked.

He chuckled and shook his head. "If you're wondering if she loves you guys, more than you will ever know. Shadow rarely talks, but to the few people who have the honor of hearing her speak, you two are the ones she's bragging about. Your concerts, Namine's art, Kairi and your singing accomplishments, and when the both of you get perfect scores on your tests. By the way, grats on acing the geography test Kairi." She blushed some and gave a quiet thank you.

"So, what do you guys do for work?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Gotta ask your sister that you two." They both pouted, once again having the question dodged. He smirked a the looks on their faces. "Don't worry, if she hasn't told you yet there is a reason, and trust me, she's pretty good at judging these things."

"Judging what thing." The two twins turned to see Shadow there, handing a beer over to Carter anyway.

"Reasons." Namine answered, and her sister just nodded before grabbing Carter''s wrist to look at his watch. "Better look up."

Sure enough, as soon as she finished the sentence they looked up to see a bolt of white shoot up from the ground and burst into an explosion of darts as they extended into a large circle, quickly covering the space in the sky before it was followed by many, many others. Cheers erupted from all of the rooftops and the people on the ground as everyone watched.

Shade looked over and saw her sister's smiling excitedly as they watched the fireworks, and gave a small smile of her own. "You should be proud." Carter said quietly from next to her, only leaning in slightly so the others wouldn't hear.

She glanced up at him. "Trust me, I am."


	6. Bets

_Alo, Salut, sunt eu, un haiduc  
__Si te rog, iubirea mea, primeste fericirea  
__Alo, alo, sunt eu Picasso  
__Ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic  
_

_Vrei sa pleci dar numa, numa iei  
__Numa, numa iei, numa, numa, numa iei  
__Chipul tau si dragostea din tei  
__Mi-amintesc de ochii tai_

Week One:

_Dear Sora, Roxas, and Riku,_

_Hello from Radiant Gardens! You guys wouldn't believe this place, its huge! The people who run the shops are very nice and Aerith, she runs the coffee shop, is so nice. When we got here Monday she was the one who helped shop for dresses for the festival. Apparently every year they hold a party that celebrates the day the small war ended over this town. The theme for the colors were dark blue and white and were gorgeous, the entire place was covered in them. We got to stand on the rooftops to watch the fireworks, we put the pictures in the envelope so you guys could see them. We asked Shadow if you guys could come next year to check them out and she agreed._

_It was so funny! Apparently beer was big for Shadow and her friends last night, well, more her friends than Shadow herself. She only had one or two. At one point this guy named Axel ended up standing on the edge of the roof and started singing Numa Numa. We video recorded it. :) We got to meet a bunch of guys that Shadow works with. Carter, Axel, Leon, (who lives here too, just doesn't stay around long), Cid, Yuffie, and Cloud. By the way, he's the one that delivered these letters, don't worry, we both found out he's always that emotionless, it's normal._

_Anyways guys, we gotta get going! Can't wait to talk to you later and hope your summer started off with a blast._

_-__**Namine + Kairi**_

Week Two:

_You guys wouldn't believe the food here! Sora and Roxas, you guys would be in heaven, and Riku we know you would love our sister's grilling. We were having these huge cheese burgers that would definitely be your new favorite. We went shopping today, something we had to drag Shadow to do, and ran into Yuffie, who was happy to show us around the clothing departments. Sora, you would get along great with her, she's just as hyper as you, and Shadow said she didn't even have any sugar that day. Scary. _

_We got to check out a music store, apparently Shadow goes there frequently because they recognized her instantly. Oh yeah! Riku, we got you the new Avenged Sevenfold CD, apparently she has connections. And don't worry you two, we got Sora a new and sturdier chain for his crown neck piece and Roxas we found you new wristbands that you're going to love! _

_Yoru, Shadow's Alaskan Husky, needs to get washed next week after we go to the park, and she was telling us how the dog always gives her a run for her money, so we're going to help her with that. She brought out a set of chains from the closet, so we don't really know what to expect..._

_Well that's it for now! Talk to you three later. =)_

_-__**Kairi + Namine**_

Week Three:

_We gave Yoru a bath today...it took us an entire hour and a half. The dog made it look like we were committing animal cruelty! Shadow had to shackle her around the neck and pinned her down while we washed her off, thus resorting in Shadow getting soaked, and carrying on to her getting revenge with the water on the jet setting. Remember the time when Riku got his hands on the water hose, so Sora and Roxas ended up walking away all red? Yeah, that bad._

_Her movie collection is insane, you guys would like it. If it's horror, heavy action, or involves guns and actually good, then no doubt she has it. We watched Resident Evil last night. We couldn't sleep after that. XP Then today we went to this huge water park that's off to the side in town. The place was amazing, and there was this ride called the scorpion, it felt like we were going to flip backwards in the tube! And the wave pool, it was so large and the waves were turning into good ten foot waves, people couldn't bring surf boards, of course, but you could tell they wanted to. _

_Hope you guys are doing good!_

_-__**Namine + Kairi**_

Week Three:

_You know, we just thought of something. We never told you the story about Shadow's name, even when you guys asked! Sorry! So here's how it went:_

_We were around five years old and it was two years after Shadow had moved in with us. When we were younger she still had her original name, but for the life of us we can't remember it, (and we think she likes it that way) and were having a hard time pronouncing it after all. So one day Kairi and I had been playing a game of hide and seek in the cluster of tree behind the house. Our parents were throwing a get-together with a bunch of their friends and we had opted to play on our own for a while. So Kairi had been the seeker at the time, with neither of us knowing where Shadow had went, we thought she had stayed with the adults, (she was always good with the grown ups) but anyways, Namine had found a hiding spot behind one of the larger trees and had me, (Kairi) completely lost as to where she could be._

_Then I suddenly felt like someone was behind me, (Namine) and I turned around, only to scream as it turned out to be Shadow. She had apologized and Kairi came around before making the comment that she had gotten so close that she was standing on my shadow. We laughed at this, because that seemed to be one of her top skills, so we had opted for the nickname Shadow. it quickly caught on that no one else besides us could call her that. A few weeks later we asked her what another word for Shadow would be, and she said shade would be pretty close. Even though it was shorter and nickname material, it was already decided what her nickname was so we called her Shade on the more serious occasions. Pretty soon she just introduced herself as Shade, and that's how it caught on._

_Sorry that we're only just now answering this. XP But hey! Better late than never! Hope you guys are having a blast and we'll talk to you later._

_-__**Namine + Kairi**_

_P.S. We better be getting letters back!_

XXXXXX

Cloud walked up the driveway of the large home with his motorcycle that he had named Fenrir resting out on the street. His spiky yellow hair defied gravity while piercing clear blue eyes studied the door in front of him before he reached up and knocked, swinging his backpack around and unzipping it to reveal the packages that needed to be delivered on Destiny Islands. As the door opened up he pulled out a small package of envelopes, the date each one was written neatly printed in the corner of each one.

Before him actually stood the three teens that he needed. "Kairi and Namine's friends?"

The silver haired teen spoke. "Yeah, you need something?"

Cloud simply handed him the small package, which he took after a second and studied it. "Thanks." He said. "Do I have to pay you?"

"Covered." Cloud said over his shoulder, already halfway down the driveway. The three boys watched as he got back on the motorcycle and it roared to life before quickly taking off, it's emotionless rider already thinking of the next delivery that had to be made.

"What are they?" Roxas asked, looking over at the package. Riku simply opened it up to reveal at least fifteen letters neatly stacked up on each other and one more envelope dedicated to pictures.

"Wow, they weren't kidding when they said they would write." Sora laughed, taking the first and oldest letter. "I think we should get started."

XXXXXX

Kairi and Namine had been switching out with sleeping on Shadow's bed while the other twin would sleep on a small inflatable matress next to it. Their older sister had opted for the couch, which she said normally substituted for her bed anyways while the actual matress almost never got used. When they asked her why she had said by the end of the work day it was easy to crash on as soon as she got home. They had chided her for this, of course, and in turn she had ignored it, as always.

That particular day they found themselves woken up at 7:30, with their sister dressed in obvious work out clothes. A pair of black shorts and a tight black shirt rimmed with gray along the edges, her hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail and she had a gym bag hanging from her shoulder. "Come on guys, get up."

"Why." Kairi groaned, turning over in the bed away from her older sister. "It's summer, summer means sleeping in."

"Because we're going to the gym." she said with a smirk, watching as Namine pulled the blanket over her head. In response to her answer she received complaints, but that only made her smirk more solid as she dropped the bag and grabbed both sheets by the bottom before ripping them off the two, exposing their skin to the cool morning air. "Hey!" The called in sync, and their eyes widened when they saw the large glass of water she was taking very small sips out of. A grin came across her face before they both screamed, the results of the water being thrown on both of them. "Shadow!"

"Ten minutes." she said, already having the bag over her shoulder and walking out of the door, leaving two very disgruntled twins behind her.

It wasn't until half an hour later that both girls stood inside the gym, finding nothing else to do but gawk at it's immense size. Bottom line, it was decked out. The place was large and had large sections dedicated to different parts of of the gym. A map that was located at the entrance showed the various rooms where you could find the kind of equipment you were looking for. As soon as Shade walked in she was greeted professionally by a woman who was actually in a suit at the front desk. "Miss Shade, it's a pleasure to see you." She said.

Shadow just nodded. "Got two extras with me." The woman looked at the twins with a gaze that didn't expressed something along the lines of annoyance but nodded anyway, swiping her card before giving it back to Shade. "Enjoy."

She just nodded once and the two followed close behind her. "Where to first?"

"How good are you two on the treadmill?"

XXXXXX

Five miles of running. Their sister had made them run five miles, running seven herself. After that they had proceeded to take a blessing of a break while Shadow was beating upon an unfortunate punching bag, black fingerless gloves covering her hands as she expertly went at it. "How often do you come here Shadow?" Kairi asked, nursing a bottle of water as they sat on a bench a few feet away from her.

"Normally four times a week." Her leg came around and crashed into the bag, both twins flinching. "Stress reliever."

"How many years?"

"Leon introduced me to the place, shortly after we met, so we're talking about eight and a half years ago." A fist came around and it sunk into the leathery resistance.

"Shade." The twins glanced over but Shade continued her beating of the bag.

"Leon." She grunted in greeting, her foot aiming a high kick. "How you doing?"

"Not bad." He replied in a monotone, coming next to her and holding the bag still while she beat on it. "The guys were wondering if you're in."

Shadow bounced lightly on her feet, glancing over at the twins. "Depends, how many?"

"Four of us this time."

"Alright, I'm in." She threw one more hit and he had to drop his hand unless he wanted the bones crushed. She walked over and grabbed a water bottle, along with twenty bucks that she gave to her sisters. "Come on." They obediently got up and followed the pair towards the back of the gym, bypassing many other rooms before coming towards the back. The only thing that could really capture is size was it was like an indoor football field, however, the floor was more padded than the rest of the gym. The only other thing were the bleachers along the wall, meant for the spectators.

The only other three in the room were Axel, Cloud, and Carter, all who they were already familiar with. "Ah, welcome to the party ladies!" Axel said with a cocky grin, arms splayed widely.

Kairi and Namine grinned while Shadow smirked. "Hey Axel, going to grace us with another show of your singing skills?" He made a face as she dropped her gym bag on the bleachers and turned to her sisters. "Remember that pizza place next to the gym, go ahead and get some food whenever you get bored." She said, reaching into her bag and they watched in amazement as she pulled out two long and elegant daggers. their sheaths were made of crimson hilts with bands of black wrapping around them before the blades curved outward slightly and they could see that the sharp edges were trailed with the same deep red. She flipped them expertly in her hands to where the blades trailed up her arms. The twins stared in awe and they felt Cloud gently nudge them to the bleachers, where they sat without comment.

Cloud had this sword, and it was huge. Easily the size of him and probably about to hand widths wide, he lifted it like it didn't weigh anything. Leon had this blade that the hilt looked like the grip of the gun and Axel had chakrams that were red, white, and with black handles that were gripped in the center. Shadow smiled at them both as they gawked at the scene. "Rule number one, you stay off the floor at all times, if you wish to leave you go through the side doors. You don't call out, only in case of emergency." Straight and to the point.

"So how much this time?" Axel asked, pulling out his wallet.

The other four glanced at each other. "Forty?" Carter suggested.

"I'm game." They watched as their sister pulled out two twenty dollar bills and handed it to a confused Namine, quickly followed by the other men handing her the money. "What are you guys doing?"

"Kiddo." Carter chuckled, "We're making life livable." The rest of them laughed, including Shade, who looked right at home with them.

"So who's playing champ?" Cloud inquired.

There was some debate for a moment before Leon opted for the spot. "Alright then." Shade said, "I call first dibs against Axel."

He laughed. "Ah! I can already taste the success." Shadow smirked and played with the extremely sharp blades in her hands. "Oh, don't be so full of confidence."

The three men stood next to the bleachers, watching as Shade and Axel stood towards the center of the floor, Shadow to the right and Axel to the left. It was interesting to see two complete opposites face off against each other. You had the darker colors of Shade with most of her outfit consisting of black, same with her hair besides the died tips, then you had the flaming red hair of Axel and his more looser outfit that had more color, of course red, to it. Kairi and Namine glanced at each other, both noting how the weapons were definitely real. "Is this safe?" Kairi hesitantly asked the expressionless Cloud.

The blond looked down and noticed the worry on her look, and softened up just a bit. "Don't worry, we've been doing this for as long as we can remember, and never once has there been a fatal wound."

The twins took comfort in this.

"Ok, on my mark." Carter said. Axel was grinning as his hands were spinning the chakrams with absolute ease. Shadow had one foot planted firmly behind her and the other in front, her lower half facing more towards the wall while her torso was turned slightly to face Axel, her left arm extended in front of her with a blade firmly in her grasp while the second one was behind her and slightly lower, closer to her waist line. "Three. Two. One. Go."

Neither wasted a minute. Axel immediately threw both chakrams and the spun through the air with frightening speed towards Shade, but she easily dodged them as she pushed off the ground, doing a clean back flip as she landed a good fifteen feet away, her daggers coming in front of her as an 'X' form as the fiery redhead brought one down upon her, catching it in a lock before, the taller man grinning down but his facial expression quickly changing to one of awareness as Shade took a long step back, the force he had been putting on his weapons causing him to quickly continue on towards the ground now that the resistance was gone. Axel barely recovered before a dagger came down on him as he rolled to the side to avoid serious damage.

When he was back on his feet he saw just the slightest of cuts on his shoulder and pouted. "Damn, first strike."

"What did you expect?" She mocked, coming at him again. He used one chakram to block the attack that went for his side while the second one came up to cover his right shoulder, the tip of the blade lightly catching the cloth of his shirt just enough to rip through it with it's sharp and cold metal. Shade smirked, and Axel grunted as her head slammed into his, causing the taller one to stumble back before she spun, her foot connecting squarely into his chest in a round house kick and sending him sprawling on the floor.

Shadow flipped her dagger over, catching it smoothly in between two of her fingers before throwing it, the movement smooth and clean, the blade glinting slightly as it flew towards him. Kairi let out a small shriek, covering her mouth as it embedded itself in the ground, Axel having jumped back on his feet and grabbing the nearest chakram, returning the gesture. The raven haired girl stepped to the side to dodge before bringing an arm and blocking Axel's punch by pushing it away from her, her second hand catching the blow going for her head, holding the fist in a knuckle tight grip a few inches from her smirking features. Her foot came down and slammed on his, causing him to yelp before she did a complete 360 turn and send her elbow slamming into his stomach.

He made it to where he fell backwards, enough to where when his feet left the ground he send own slamming into her calves and causing her to go down with him. Both dropped quickly, but using the same speed pushed themselves back up, Shadow having one dagger on her while Axel had both chakrams, her second one still embedded into the ground behind him. "You want your toy back?" He teased, waving his chakrams toward her. "Then you're going to have to work for it."

Shadow grinned. "Sounds good to me." As the two engaged again Namine heard something next to her and turned to see Carter smirking as he held up his phone, watching as the small screen recorded the fight. "What's that for?"

He chuckled. "Normally one of us records each of our fights and saves them to our computers, more like just for the fun of it."

"This is your guys' definition of fun?" Kairi sounded astounded.

"It normally is, unless one of us had a rough week, then it's fun, a stress reliever, and funny as hell to watch." Leon said, smirking slightly.

Both girls screamed as Axel came crashing into the bleachers next to them, groaning and shaking his head lightly in an attempt to clear it. Shadow was grinning as she walked up to him, neatly kneeling down to pick up her dagger from the ground. "Told you I'd get it back."

"Haha." He said sarcastically, pushing himself up from the now indented metal. "You scared your sisters, shame on you."

"Guilt trip ain't gonna work." She told him.

"Damn." He cursed louder when she caught him off guard, grabbing his upper arm and using amazing force to drag him off his feet and send him flying a good twenty feet away from them. "Sorry you two." Shadow said to her sisters, ignoring the grins on her other competitors faces.

"Is he OK?" Namine asked with worry, watching Axel stumble up.

"He'll be fine." She replied dismissively. A chakram came flying towards her from behind, and before they could warn her they watched as she stepped off to the side, her hand coming up and grabbing it in the center, making a turn and throwing it back, almost like a pitcher in a baseball game would. "Come on Axel! Loosing your touch?"

"You wish." He charged her and was able to catch her on her upper arm, creating a decent sized cut as the weapon was thrust past her, but she retaliated with an uppercut, sending his head snapping back before she brought the arm with the cut around and caught him with a much larger gash in his stomach. Grunting he stepped back but blocked another attack that went for his upper thigh, his other hand embedding his spare chakram into the ground before it came around and he grabbed her by the back of her neck, catching her of guard as she suddenly found herself pinned to the floor, her back to him as his hand held her neck in place and he knelt down over her, smirking. "Haha! Who's loosing their touch now."

"That one is new." She said, but was grinning as well. "So is this."

He cursed as he felt one of her solid boots connect with his spine, pain shooting through him and his grip loosening just enough to where she could push herself up and knock him to the ground before she sat on top of his stomach, both arms pinned under her hands. He struggled but as much as he hated to admit it, her working out did pay off with strength no normal woman would have. "Sorry Axel, but it's looking like you lost." Cloud called from across the room.

He growled a curse and sighed, but nodded in defeat. "Alright! Alright!" Shadow pushed herself up but paused to lend a hand to him as she helped pull him up. "Good duel."

"Good duel." He replied in the same respectful tone, smirking as he looked over at her sisters. "Wonder if they're finally realizing you're crazy."

"Probably." She agreed, and both chuckled at the thought.

XXXXXX

It first went Shadow and Axel. Then Cloud and Carter fought, with Cloud winning. After Shadow and Cloud fought and Shade won she proceeded to fight the 'champ', aka Leon. That day they all left the day in good spirits with the bruises already starting to darken on their skin.

But Shadow was the only one who walked away with $180 bucks.


	7. Attack

**Ok, now we're getting to the writing that is familiar ground to me, so the story should be getting better. Sorry but as all writers know you have to make the background and info clear before you can really start moving on with the story. So enjoy the chapter and have a good weekend.  
-Shadoword**

_Do you see what I see  
__Why do we live like this  
__Is it because it's true  
__that ignorance is bliss_

_Who are they  
__And where are they  
__And how do they  
__know all this  
__And I'm sorry so sorry  
__I'm sorry it's like this_

It was going so well. Her sister's were happy and enjoying their time in Radiant Garden, Yoru was having a blast with all of the attention, her vacation was supplying her with some much needed rest that she had lost over the past ten years. Nothing could have been better, nothing could have killed the mood.

Except those four words.

"There's been an attack."

Shadow accepted the risk immediately when she took on her field of work. Being a mercenary wasn't the easiest thing in the world, and being the best normally took years upon years to accomplish, but she wasn't that patient, and quickly climbed her way up the ranks before everyone was calling her and asking her for her services. She had broken into homes, retrieved stolen property, even played body guard every now and then, and she had also killed. The first time she had done this, she was sixteen, and it was that day that she acknowledged that people would want revenge, and that she was going to have to never let her guard down.

"When."

"Last night."

She wasn't like other mercenaries, if she didn't believe in a job, if she thought that the reasons behind it were wrong, she wouldn't take it, no matter how much money was waved in front of her. Some people admired these morals, others were annoyed by it, normally the ones she rejected. She had complaints, threats, even other mercenaries and hit men come after her, the latter normally coming from the higher ups in drug rings.

"Casualties?"

"...We lost nine men."

Everyone she worked with, when they had turned from their ways of drugs, prostitutes, and useless murders, knew others wouldn't be happy with it, but they didn't care. What they did care about was the fact that they had let themselves fall low enough to where it was almost impossible to come back from it. However, Shadow had been the one to show them that that wasn't the case, a painful and slow process, yes, but not impossible.

XXXXXX  
Shadow was leaning against her kitchen counter, arms crossed over her chest and head bowed slightly. Kairi and Namine were out with Yuffie and Aerith walking around town, enjoying the life that their sister had, the one that she used to cover up her more foggy one she kept from them. Across from her was Jason, Carter's brother. He was actually nineteen, but was a close resemblance to his brother in almost every aspect, you would think that he was his smaller twin, with the exception of deep brown eyes, which currently looked worried.

"Carter told me to come and tell you immediately." He said.

"He was right." She replied after a minute. "It was them, huh?"

He nodded slowly. "They made that clear. Their boss wasn't very happy that you didn't take the job." Shadow nodded, giving a quiet 'yeah' as she looked back down, letting out a slow breath. "Did they realize I wasn't there?"

"Yeah, they actually found your room pretty fast." Her eyes snapped open. "But your locks held up strong, and they couldn't get in. We caught one of the fifteen that attacked, he's being questioned now."

As soon as he finished the sentence he was slightly startled as Shadow's cellphone rang, playing 'Bleed it Out' by Linkin Park. She reached over and flipped it open. "Shade."

"It's Carter, Jason there?"

"Yeah, he's filling me in on the details." She left him sitting at her table as she walked towards the back room, opening up the first door on the right and stepping in, locking it once again. "He's shaken up, was he there?"

"Front line." Carter said grimly. We were having some food when the place was attacked, and the entrance point was the cafeteria. He wasn't hurt, but he hadn't gotten into a live fire fight yet."

"I'm sorry." She said. "So what else?"

"Shadow, they know a helluva lot about you. Where your room was, some of your higher up jobs, other mob bosses you've worked for." He paused for a moment, and her phone on the grip tightened.

"Carter..." She said in a low warning voice.

"They know about your sisters." He said.

"Shit!" Unknown to her Carter winced on the other line. "They know that the twins are staying with me?"

"No, but they do know they live on Destiny Islands, they also know about the three boys they hang out with." Shadow nodded, thinking.

"Alright, they know about my home in Radiant Gardens?"

"Not a clue." He replied.

"Alright, I'm going to get the twins back here then head back to Destiny Islands and pick up their friends. They aren't safe there, so they'll crash here for a while, I'll ask Leon if I can borrow his place since it's larger." She opened up the door and started walking to the front of the house. "I want a patrol set around each other their houses, I don't want to take the chance of their parent's getting hurt. Make sure Kairi and Namine's place is tight, their parent's are going to be returning soon. I also need three sheets of paper faxed to the boys with a fake field trip that their school will be hosting, permission slips and all, make it something like a traveling trip that will keep them gone for a few weeks."

"Got it." Carter said, already calling out orders around the main room he was in. "Anything else?"

"Make sure the locks on my room are still in one piece." She growled, shutting the phone.

XXXXXX

Kairi and Namine laughed as they walked towards the driveway of Shadow's home, carrying a few shopping bags in their hands. Yuffie and Aerith were chatting animated with each other close behind them before they heard the door opening and saw Jason quickly jogging out towards his truck. He glanced at the two older woman and they immediately caught onto his look before rushing into the house. the twins looked at each other with confused gazes before rushing after them.

"Shade, what's wrong?" Yuffie asked, seeing her friend walk out of the room, knowing now a few daggers and maybe even a gun were hidden on her being. She was wearing black jeans with the same tone t-shirt along with a black trench coat, fitting at the torso but flaring out some once it hit her waist, three belt ends holding the coat closed at the top, exposing only her lower half.

"There was an attack." Kairi and Namine, who had been waiting out side, standing off to the side out out of visual, glanced at each other.

"At the base?" Shadow just nodded and took a nine millimeter that was resting on top of the counter, shoving a clip in it and cocking the weapon before sliding it into its holster at her waist, obscured from view. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Nine." she replied, and quietly. A cold expression came across her face, and Aerith recognized it as the one she used when she was on one of her missions. "The twins and their friends are in danger, I'm going to pick the boys up now and bring them back here, Leon is letting me use his place for them to sleep."

"How are we in danger?" Kairi slowly walked into the house, knowing she was pushing her limits but honestly worried. Shadow looked at her, and she flinched slightly under her gaze.

"Yuffie, stay here with them, I'll be back in a few hours."

"Shadow, what's wrong?" Namine asked this time.

Their sister walked up to them and put a hand on their shoulders. "Later." That was the noly thing she said before she walked out the door, leaving behind a pair of confused and slightly scared twins.

XXXXXX

Shadow was driving her truck, windows rolled out the way down and Linkin Park blaring through her speakers as she drove back to Destiny Islands. The boys had already been notified and she had to admit she was slightly surprised when they went along with it so easily, but she wasn't complaining. _I'm not going to be able to keep them out of it._ She thought with a growing dread, sighing as she ran a hand over her face. Whether she liked it or not her sisters had been dragged into the war going on between her and one of the worlds most powerful mob bosses.

The actual location of their base was back in a place people jokingly called The World That Never Was, and it fit the mood. When her 'father' had lost her in the bet she had to move there, and the place with it's tall skyscrapers and dark alleys was where she learned the tricks of the trade, and had more than enough experience with gang members, hell, the people who won her in the bet were also known as one of the most powerful.

Of course then she came along and made their life hell. Shade smirked as she made a turn down one of the neighborhoods. She had made it clear she hated them and they returned the feeling. Of course there was Carter, the dude was one of the few that had pity on her. While she hated it, it also allowed her to have someone who she knew wasn't glaring daggers at her back, or mentally painting a target over her heart. After a year she had stopped the death threats and dropped down to just threatening to sever his limbs. But the guy was persistent, and had earned her respect over the years. The rest of the gang slowly started to accept her when they saw that the mob boss' son was actually on decent grounds with her.

After a year she did something that she had yet to figure out if it was simply brave or down right stupid.

"_You're stupid." _

_Silence greeted the comment as she stood in front of one of the worlds top mob bosses, the room so dark that the man was hidden from her proper view as he sat in a large chair on the other side of the table. A few of his members were stationed along side the wall, and were watching as the interesting scene unfolded before them._

"_You and your guys have so much potential. I mean seriously, I thought you would all be idiots, but I was happily proven wrong. You've got gun experts that know basically every single gun out there, weapon masters who can name the perfect blade for the right fight, great field experts and people who can study the terrain like the back of their hand. You have power that few others have and with a few adjustments you guys could have a life where instead of people fearing you or cussing you out you could be thanked and acknowledged on better terms. _

_Yeah yeah, but then no one would fear the big bad boss. That's not true, you still demonstrate your power for the world to see, just under different circumstances. Instead of shooting some guy in an alley for asking you what time it is you could shoot the drunk guy who's trying to take advantage of the teen girl and her friends. Stop the robber who just took down an innocent couple. You can help them, and make a better name for yourselves, one that when people hear it they aren't afraid but know that some bad ass guys are going to help them out." _

_Shade took a breath and smirked, shaking her head. "You guys may have made a reputation for yourselves, but you dug yourselves into a hole too. But that doesn't mean you have to stay on this road, you can still do good, you can still help defend the weak instead of taking them out with no good reason." She opened her eyes and momentarily glanced at the redhead that was gawking at her, but also noticed the silent encouragement he was giving her. "Think about it." And with that she turned around and walked out, leaving the room to fall back into its solid stone silence._

It took a couple weeks, but then she saw them. The changes were minor at first, the guys weren't making their usual Saturday night rounds at the bar that would no doubt lead to sleeping with some random chick that night, instead they'd order pizza and play the two XBox 360 they just bought. Then it steadily grew into the bigger things, instead of beating the cash out of a few rich people some members actually started going out and helping people, simple tasks like moving or heavy yard work that they would get paid for. When the police department started to get interested in it things took a positive turn from there.

It started with a break in they had to do, it was with one of the local gangs that had been getting heavily into the drugs. The boss happened to know them, and the police almost asked if they would help them out. Shade was stoked when they said yes. Of course, their first mission did have a few complications.

_Axel and Carter had been the ones that brought her with them, now at the age of fourteen. She had been training in fighting as a past time and target practice, so she also had a small side arm concealed under her jacket that the two encouraged her to bring. The boss wasn't there, but the chief police officer was, and the whole time the operation had been going on she stood next to him by the cop car, arms crossed over her chest and looking with a stone gaze, listening to the commotion through her earpiece that Axel was hooked up to on the other line. _

_The entire operation took about an hour to fully bring everyone out and officially draw it to a close. Everything had gone great, except for the gunshot wound Reno got, Axel's look-a-like brother but a man who was in no way related to him. Shade had been walking towards them when she took notice that a group of cops were bashing the former gang members, and their chief was standing idly by, not agreeing, but not disproving it either. _

"_The man just goes and shoves me to the side, the bullet hitting him. I don't know what was going through that idiots mind!" A roar of laughter could be heard and Shade paused on her way to the ambulance and veered for them instead._

"_Then you have that big black dude-"_

"_Say another word and I can promise you won't be walking away with the only thing keeping your gender from being that of a woman." Her voice was laced with ice cold venom. "That 'idiot' is the reason you are standing there with your arm in tact. You wouldn't have seen the gun aimed for you in the first __place because you were to busy fumbling with reloading your gun as smoothly as you should have learned the second week you were in training." The man was staring at her with wide eyes. "And if I see __any__ of you insulting these men who actually have the right of calling themselves that you are going to be wishing that the Goddess of Death had actually come and killed your herself compared to the hell I'd put you through. Is that clear?"_

"_Yes ma'am." Were her answers. When she stood there, still staring them down they all bent there heads, suddenly finding the ground very interesting before she made her way over to the speechless chief. "Next time keep a better leash on your men, and make sure they damn well know how to actually load a gun." She growled before turning around and making her over to the ambulance._

Ok, she had been pissed, who wouldn't? These men were making something out of their lives and were being slammed because of their background. You don't go around judging people what they did in the past, you look at who was standing before you then and there. And back then she had seen a group of guys who wanted something better for themselves. They deserved respect just for trying to right the wrongs of their lives.

Her cellphone rang, and she was once again pulled back into the current day. Yes, they had come far and grown stronger than ever, but that meant now taking on even tougher opponents. She flipped the small device open and held it up to her ear. "Shade."

"All three of them are at Riku's house, we've got patrol half an hour behind you set up for their homes."

"Got it." She snapped the small device shut and her foot weighed heavier on the gas peddle.

XXXXXX

As soon as the truck pulled into the driveway the guys were off the couch and heading towards the door. Their morning had been nothing close to normal. Instead of waking up to the sound of their parents complaining that it was almost noon and they were still asleep they had been met with a phone call at seven thirty from Shade, the last person they expected to hear from. And she wasn't as laid back as she always sounded when they talked to her, she sounded, colder, and whatever she said was a firm command. Guessing Kairi and Namine knew what was going on, they went along with it, packed their stuff to last a week or so, then met up at Riku's to wait, slight tension in the air as they all debated on what could be wrong.

A hard knock came at their door and Riku opened it to see Shade there, and his eyes widened at the outfit she wore, more more importantly the expressionless look she had. "You guys packed?" Same cold tone too.

He nodded and the guys turned around to get their bags from the living room while Shade looked over her shoulder, almost like she was checking for something. Sora came first, and as soon as his foot stepped out the door things started to pick up speed.

Something grabbed the back of his shirt and he felt himself pulled forward and behind Shade, stumbling some as her one hand kept a firm hold on the fabric while he saw something black glint in her hand. Then three timed gunshots came from somewhere a few feet by him, causing his ears to start ringing as his eyes recognized the sound of gunshots.

Shade pulled him up to look at her and was speaking while motioned to Riku's house. "Get in the forest." She said, pushing him towards the rest and watching as he started to job after them. She turned around and noted the numbers of how many were here before turning around and running as well into the bright, but heavily cluttered tree fortress.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked as they hit the edge.

Shade motioned inward. "Go in there, and keep running, start heading back when you hear a whistle, got it?" The three guys nodded. "And ignore the gunshots." Their eyes widened as she pulled out a second handgun and looked towards the house. "Move."

Riku grabbed the other two and shoved them before him, setting the pace of their run as they quickly made their way deeper into the confinements of the trees. They had ran through this place hundreds of times when they were younger, and their feet still knew the paths they had made by heart. "Guys, remember that tree setting where we would have climbing contests?" Roxas asked.

Sora nodded and Riku's gaze turned thoughtful. "You sure?" They all jumped when they heard a steady stream of gunfire and they could have sworn a shotgun was in the mix.

"We gotta help her out." Roxas said. Riku smirked and nodded. "Let's go."

Shadow ducked behind a tree, both guns being held up and align with her body as her elbows bent in to hold them next to her shoulders, listening as silence suddenly settled on the area. She heard whispers slowly start to interrupt that peacefulness and heard the crack of a twig to her right. Spinning around she only took a millisecond to aim before her finger pulled the trigger and she felt the bullet tear through the barrel, nailing the target square in the chest while his companion returned fire. She took refuge behind another tree before breaking into a run, her boots crushing the fallen leaves and twigs underneath her, while black eyes studied the trees above her.

Hearing the sound of pursuit behind her she quickly holstered her weapons before jumping up, her hands catching a branch and flipping her body lithely on top of it, coming in a crouched position with her hands holding onto it to keep her balanced before she quickly started to climb faster, out of view in seconds.

The dead man's companion slowed down when he came near the tree she was hidden in. Shadow stayed dead silent as she watched him, staying low on one of the heavier branches. The man slowly studied all of the trees around him, and when she made a slow move for her gun he immediately turned towards her tree, studying it before very slowly raising his gun in her direction.

Her knife flew through the air from higher up, avoiding his line of sight before embedding itself into the tree across from her, causing the leaves to shift loudly. The man immediately spun around and yelled as he let out a steady stream of bullets from his machine gun attack the poor tree.

Shade dropped down and grabbed his head with both hands before forcefully cracking it, breaking the neck and causing the bullets to freeze as the dead body fell to the ground. Pleased with a clean death, she noted that there were now three more men still after them, having killed the first one when they were attacked at the house. When she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps coming her way she started running again, hoping to have them finished off while she made her way to find the guys.

XXXXXX

"Ready?" Sora whispered from his spot up in the trees. Roxas nodded next to him while Riku was still on the ground, playing bait for them.

Riku picked up a nice and heavy branch that they had cracked from one of the trees. He waited until he could see the faint sight of dark green mixed with black before taking it and swinging the wood almost like a baseball bat, having it crash into the tree and the cracking sound echoing through the forest.

The mix of colors started to move his way and he took a few steps back, making sure to make sounds, before turning and running back to the clearing where the other two were. When a gunshot went off he saw a tree a few feet away from him have the bullet embedded into it, and started running faster.

Sora and Roxas watched as he broke into the clearing, his running from track paying off for the task. He glanced up there way and broke for there direction, just as the man came into the clearing where he was. The silver haired teen quickly jumped behind a wider tree as the gun was fired at him, hearing their attacker curse and run towards them. Riku stepped from behind the tree to make sure he came in the right direction.

The man grinned as he walked closer and closer to the still teenager. "Finally realize you can't outrun me?"

He leaned against the tree and had his arms crossed over his chest while a smirk overcame his features. "Don't have to."

Brief confusion came over his face before two battle cries came from above him, Sora and Roxas dropping down from the tree and landing right on top of the guy. He grunted as he was slammed into the ground and the force of the two guys together was enough to knock him out. "Oh yeah!" Sora said, throwing his fist in the air. "We are so awesome."

Their little victory party was cut short when a gunshot resounded nearby, and Roxas' eyes widened when it hit the ground just a few inches away from his foot. They spun around to see another attacker aim his gun again, finger already moving towards the trigger.

The shot went wide as he was tackled to the ground, and they watched as Shade effectively got his own gun away from him before sliding a dagger out from its sheath and into his upper arm, earning a cry of pain. While he was distracted she let go of the knife and once again broke his neck, letting the body go limp and the cries died off before she stood up again, taking her knife and wiping it off with the man's bandanna.

The three stared at her, not sure if they should be surprised, happy, or horrified. She glanced over at them before noting the body which they stood around, and raised an eyebrow at this. "Did you actually kill him?" She asked curiously.

"Just knocked him out." Sora said in a shocked whisper. "Did you just...?" She just nodded silently before pulling out a cellphone from her pocket and quickly dialing a number.

"Carter, I have five dead and one unconscious bodies in the forest behind Riku's home, when patrol gets here make sure they take care of them first before hitting the guys' homes." The phone snapped shut and she started walking over to them.

Roxas unconsciously took a step back and she noted this, deciding to stop walking as well, opting to just stand there with her hands crossed over her chest while she let them take it in.

Riku was the first to speak. "Relax guys, if she wanted to kill us she'd have done it by now." He rested an encouraging hand on each of their shoulders, and after a moment they both nodded in agreement. A small smirk came over Shade's face.

"Any wounds?" She asked, finishing her walk over and checking the body of the unconscious one. Everyone replied they didn't and she nodded before she took out a piece of paper in one of the guy's pockets. Opening it up she could see the name and address of each of the guys. A low curse escaped her as she shoved it into one of her pockets and stood up. "Come on, we're heading back to Radiant Gardens."

Roxas and Riku started walking towards the direction of his house once again but Sora paused next to Shadow. "Hey Shade, is everything alright?"

_Wasn't expecting that._ She thought, _How about a, 'Hey Shade, why the hell did six guys just try to kill us?' _She shook her head and sighed. "Not really Sora."

That's when he gave her a small grin. "Well then, looks like we're just going to have to help you make it alright."


	8. Answers

_Now I find myself in question  
__(They point the finger at me again)  
__Guilty by association  
__(You point the finger at me again)_

_I wanna run away, never say goodbye  
__I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why  
__I wanna know the answers, no more lies  
__I wanna shut the door and open up my mind_

Light gray walls surrounded her on all sides as she walked through the clean almost warehouse looking building, her solid army boots solidly connecting with the tiled floor underneath her. This was the main hallway that she had walked through hundreds upon thousands of times in her life, and would continue to do so for many more years to come. She knew that once you walked this space, you had the options of three doors at the end, each taking one wall, before the design got more complex. One would lead to the missions control room, where agents would go to receive their assignments for the day and return in their reports. The one opposite of that led to the training grounds and weaponry, if it was any way involved with fighting then you would find it behind that door. Then finally there was the door in the center, and this lead to the chambers and gathering rooms where they would stay in their own rooms. You probably had close to sixty people living permanently in this building, and even still it was barely enough room as people worked and utilized every empty space of it.

Shade walked up to the middle door, scanning an ID card in front of the small device before pushing it open and walking through, now being met with a variety of sound. People were walking to or from their rooms and talking either to each other or into their cellphones. In softer spots you could hear music playing as you passed a room, but everything held one common factor. Everything was darker, the moods, atmosphere, even the music playing wasn't the most encouraging. She frowned as she continued to walk, and it was because another gang had decided that it was time for some revenge.

"Hey Shadow." She turned to see Axel there, lightly jogging up to drop into a walk next to her. Yeah, he was one of the four that she considered close, almost like family. Him along with Carter had been the ones to put up with her when she was younger, the redhead more like the one pulling amusing pranks on her whenever he could. Even though they always did have different opinions that didn't stop them from always having each others backs.

"Axel." She greeted with a small nod. "How's clean up?"

"Not bad, thankfully there wasn't to much firefight but still enough to leave a mark." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something she had learned over the years that he was unsettled about something. "So, what do you want to do?"

She was silent for a moment, and he knew she was thinking over her answer, which was rare. Shadow was normally the one to always have the right answer ready, so when she thought it over you could tell it was big. "I'm not going to rush in if that's what you mean. You know me better than that." She gave the taller man a small smile, and he returned it. "I'd never put my team in that kind of unnecessary danger. But I need more information, after this meeting I'm going to get to work on an infiltration, I don't want us being caught unprepared again."

He chuckled and put an arm over her shoulder. "That's the Shadow I've grown to love." She laughed quietly as they walked to the gathering rooms, reaching the one that only the Boss and expected members gathered. "Talk to you later." She nodded before looking back at the door and giving it a solid knock three times. After a moment she heard her entry was allowed and walked in, someone else closing the door behind her.

This room was large, and along the walls you could see four men each standing next to each other and ready, their guns holstered at their sides or resting comfortably in their hands. In the center of the room a large and circular mahogany table sat, able to seat at least twelve people. Only one person was currently seated at this table, and this was the man that ran the entire thing. The room was dimly lit, so she could barely make out his rough features, or the scar that she knew ran down from his left ear down to his chin, but she could see his large build seated in the chair, and the hands that currently rested on the table that had fired more than enough ammo to send hundreds to their deaths.

"Mr. Ogatami." She greeted, her posture straight and feet planted a foot away from each other while her arms her behind her back, almost looking like a soldier.

"Hello Shade." His voice was deep, no doubt where Carter got his, and rough around the edges but still held superiority. "Would you like to take a seat?"

"Thank you sir but no." she opted for standing besides the chair across from him at the other end of the table. Only a few were given the option to take a seat or not, normally if you weren't one of them you were ordered to sit down.

"I'm sure you have been notified of the more recent attack." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "How do you wish to continue?"

"I was told that the opposing group has vital information on a few characters that should never have been brought into this fight. I wish to take my team and infiltrate their defenses to see what information I can gather that will help ensure we will be ready if they were to attack again."

"And who are these characters that you speak of?" He inquired.

"Kairi and Namine Hayashi, Riku Saitama, Sora and Roxas Niigata." She replied. "The first two are my adopted siblings and the three men after them are their close friends."

"I see." She knew that he had already known this, but it was something that never surprised her, you always had to check who was still with you or who was hiding information from you, to see if someone had changed over the years. "Are they currently safe?"

"All five are currently at my household. Weapon Master Leon has agreed to let them stay at his home in Radiant Gardens for the time being due to more space until this whole matter is settled."

"And the targets families?"

"Patrol is already with them."

He nodded and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his large chest. "And how are your sisters taking to this?"

Shade kept her face impassive. "They are shaken up but still standing. When I get back there are going to be a few things that we have to go over." She paused and he nodded for her to continue. "They never knew about my work field sir, so in order for them to understand why someone is targeting them I'm going to have to explain it to them, everything."

He nodded. "Good to know. We will be having one agent with you and your charges at all times and when you are unavailable two will be their guard. Come up with a plan and bring it by tomorrow, we'll want to move as quickly as possible."

"Yes sir." She said.

"You are dismissed." She nodded once before turning around and leaving the room, leaving the room to fall into silence.

XXXXXX

Carter stood in front of Shadow's house, momentarily wondering how this was going to go. Sure, her sisters seemed great, but he'd also heard...stories, and they could put up a fight when they deemed it would get them something. Taking a deep breath and deciding surely he could hold his own against these two, he opened up her front door and stepped through.

Yoru padded up to him and gave a small nudge in acknowledgment before turning and sitting by him, staring down the hall. Carter looked the same way and could hear the voices coming from Shadow's room. It was mostly the twins talking, but he could hear the three newcomers speaking every once in a while. Letting out a sigh he patted the dog on the head before walking to the door, hearing the voices stop at his coming.

He waited a second before knocking on the door. "You guys in there?"

It only took a fraction of a second before the door was ripped open and he was literally _tackled_ to the ground, and by two very pissed off teenage girls. "Where's Shadow." Kairi demanded, both holding on arm down while slightly sitting on him. He had a hard time waving off the surprise at the fact that the two petite little forms had just pinned him down.

"Would you please get off?" He offered.

"Not until you tell us where Shadow is." Namine said.

"You're Carter, right?" He looked back to the doorway to Shadow's room and saw the boy called Riku leaning there. After receiving a nod he continued. "I suggest you just give in, they're pretty hard to challenge in this state."

"You're kidding me." He muttered.

"Alright, now start talking." Kairi said.

_Sorry Shadow. _"Right now your sister is back at base tending to issues work related."

"Where is this place?"

"The World that Never Was." They looked at him with confused looks before Sora jumped in. "Hey! Isn't that that really depressing kinda place?"

"That's the place." He confirmed. "Can I get up now?" Kairi and Namine climbed off of him but stood over him, so he took this as a sign to just stay on the floor. "What now?"

"What does our sister do for work?" It was here Carter hesitated in answering, instead opting for the chance to stand up and lean against the door across from Shade's room. "I'm not sure I should tell you that."

"Tell us!" Namine said. "Why is she keeping it a secret?"

"Because Shade's one of the best mercenaries to every walk the earth." They all turned and the twins immediately recognized Leon as he walked in. His boots thudded slightly on the floor while he took off his fur-lined jacket and tossed it over the couch. "That's why she hasn't told you."

"Hey Leon." Carter said. "If Shade gets pissed it's your fault." He just shrugged. "She planned on telling them anyway."

"Hold up, you're saying she's a mercenary?" Roxas said. "Is that even like, a real profession anymore?"

Carter chuckled. "As real as it gets."

Namine and Kairi were looking at each other, both with a look that conveyed their feelings. "But, Shadow can't be a mercenary. It's just not..."

"You might as well accept it now." Leon said. "Want proof?" Both nodded immediately, and Carter stepped aside before Leon took out a ring of keys and flipped through them until he came to a small skeleton key for her house and inserted it. They watched as instead of the locks turning a small panel next to the door slid up, revealing a keypad. A four digit code was typed in before they then heard the locks slide free and Leon pushed the door open.

"Holy cow..." Sora said in awe. The room was huge, and not only that, it was filled with every type of weapon imaginable. Guns, daggers, short swords, crossbows, hand grenades, if it was lethal it was in the room. The walls were lined with the weapons hanging on them and a closet was in the far right corner of the room. In the center of the room was a table with two large books in the center, with extra space surrounding them.

Kairi and Namine slowly walked in, taking in the sight as they looked at the killing items around them. The blond lightly ran her hand over the table and noticed the gouge marks surrounding the books. _Knife marks._ She thought. "What are in the books." She looked over to see her sister staring at them, wanting to know its contents but almost like she was afraid to touch them.

"Those are the jobs she's taken this year. She's always kept a book for each year she's been doing it." Carter replied.

"Hm, I was wondering where this knife went." Leon said, picking up one of the blades that were displayed next to each other in slots on the wall. The darker man chuckled as the three teenagers now walking into the room.

"Dude, this is insane." Sora said, looking around.

"She uses all of these?" Roxas asked.

"Shade likes a variety of weapons." Leon said. "She's become one of my top visitors in the weaponry." He glanced over and saw Kairi and Namine were looking inside the first of the two books. In pen a date was put before it was followed by a dash, name, then apparently the objective of the mission. A small section was dedicated to notes about the job she had taken on.

**January 15th - Jason Sanderstone: Wife's missing necklace.**  
**January 18th - Katrina Elenore: Son's tracking information**  
**January 20th - Robert Telrone: Stolen Car**

Kairi and Namine flipped through a couple of months before one date caught there eye.

**June 27th - Mike and Christy Lethan: Missing Daughter  
****Notes: Target's name - Samantha Lethan. Four years old and went missing at the local park. After a week of following leads target was found in an abandoned home next town over being held captive by a group of three men. No sign of sexual assault, physical beatings and starvation was evident. Have scheduled mental and medical treatment followups day after returning her home. Kidnappers were executed.**

The two had been reading it out loud, and silence filled the room while they took in the information. Namine looked up and saw Carter and Leon looked more, colder, than before. "Executed?" She squeaked.

"You're sister, she doesn't take any job that comes her way, she has boundaries. That specific job, it was hard on her. She believes in keeping matters to yourselves, you don't drag innocent bystanders into it, and that's exactly what had happened to that little girl. She was beyond ticked off, and made sure those guys were six feet under when she was through with them."

"How many times." Kairi whispered. "How many times has she killed?"

"I don't know, lost count after the first year." All of them spun around to see Shadow there, looking at the book the two were currently standing before. "After a while the numbers just start to blur into each other, so you don't bother keeping track."

She nodded to Leon and Carter so the guys took Riku, Sora, and Roxas and they left the room, the door closing behind them. A tense atmosphere took place as the twins stared at Shade, who was leaning against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, not looking at them. "How long have you been doing this Shade?" Kairi asked, and noticed how she didn't use her sister's nickname.

"I got my first job when I was fourteen and a half. These guys needed a distraction done so they could sneak into the home to get some information on the projects taking place in a lab. I played a babysitter while the parents were out, they had four kids, and kept them occupied while their rooms were raided, sources said the professor kept the hard drive in one of his kids toys. After that things just started picking up speed from there. When one job found out I could fight, that's when I started taking on the harder missions, but the pay was good, and I was able to do it with no problems."

"When did you first kill someone?" Namine asked quietly.

Shade sighed. "I was fifteen. It was a simple guarding job, a hotel owner and his wife were taking the night off and they wanted someone young but experienced to watch their two kids and family dog. They asked me if I would take them to the drive ins to see Cats and Dogs 2." She smiled faintly at the memory. "My reputation was already building back then. A couple of drunks that had been fired by their dad came stumbling over, they had knives. I told the kids to get in the car, the dog, a German shepherd, stayed with me, he was a fighter. They told me to step aside so they could relay a message to the kids. Of course I told them go to hell." Kairi couldn't help it, she smiled some. It sounded exactly like something her sister would do. "They attacked me, long story short I ended up slitting ones throat, the rest of them ran away after that." She lifted her shirt some and they saw a scar a few inches long running horizontally just along the rim of her jeans. "They left me with one of my own. I never forgot that night, after that it just became something I accepted."

Namine and Kairi were now faced with a choice. Accept their sister who had been hiding her real life behind their backs, or turn on her and cut her out of their lives permanently. They both knew Shade would accept the latter and leave them alone after that, it was just the way she was, never pushing someone to do something they weren't comfortable with. Both loved their sister dearly, but what else in her hidden life had she kept from them?

Kairi sighed and looked around the room. "So I guess you're pretty good at your job, huh? I mean, everyone is saying you're the best out there." Shadow raised an eyebrow at this, and her sister giggled. "That doesn't surprise me, you always gave it all you got. Just like you have all these years with us." Kairi glanced at Namine, who nodded with a small smile and looked back at our sister. "So, I guess we can let this slide, it's not like we were affected by it in any way."

"Until now." Shade said with a smirk.

It was Namine's turn to giggle. "Until now." She agreed. "So are you going to tell us what's going on?" She asked.

"And if you hold back we're going to tackle you." Kairi said firmly.

"Got it, let's get your friends, I don't want to say it twice." She turned to open the door before she felt two bodies slam into her back, confining her in a tight hug.

"We'll always be there for you Shadow." Kairi said. Namine nodded into her sister's back as well, and heard the faint chuckling coming from her.

"And I'll always appreciate it." she replied.

XXXXXX

OK, so that was one set down, another to go. Shade had to admit, her sisters surprised her with their decision. Yeah, they weren't happy with some of the jobs she had taken on, but that was inevitable. So now that she had taken care of what her job was, she had to take on part two, meaning why the five teenagers were having one of the top mob bosses coming for their blood. Not the most cheerful subject but it wasn't like she could lay out the rules and expect them to listen without questioning.

So that's why she now found the said five teenagers all sitting or leaning against her couch. Riku was sitting with his back against the end of the furniture while the other four were squeezed onto it, looking at her expectantly. Leon had left shortly after they came out and Carter was in the kitchen grabbing a soda from her fridge. As he walked back into the living room he tossed her one which she nodded her thanks for, before going back to wondering how she was going to explain.

"So you know the basics. I'm a mercenary, have been for the past seven years, and one of the best. I've done almost every job there is," She paused and looked up at them. "Including killing someone." They didn't flinch, just nodded slowly in acceptance, so she went on. "A couple months ago one of the the worlds top mob bosses came to me with a job. He wanted a few people taken out of the picture on his competitors side. Long story short, I said no and instead of killing them, actually played body guard for them, killing the hit man that was sent to take care of them instead of me. The dude wasn't happy about it, he took the blow hard." Shadow sighed her fingers played slightly with her dog tags. "So the normal came in, threats, other hit men, yada yada. I dodged and ignored each one, and for the past month its been quiet.

Of course until now. Apparently he's getting smart. Every mercenary or killer knows that if you really want to get to someone, take out those the target is closest to. So for me, it's you guys. They found this out, that's why they tried to take you out when I was picking you up." She explained.

"But we haven't been in the picture that long, why come for us too?" Roxas asked.

"Because one," Carter answered for her, "She hasn't shown hostility towards you, trust me, that's a sign, and two, you're three are best friends with her sisters, they want to make sure they get everyone in close relation to you so the meaning is clear."

"Basically it's a clear and bloody message." She summarized.

"That's pretty brutal." Riku said, frowning slightly.

Shadow nodded slightly. "But its how the game works. So that's why you are staying with me and the others for the time being until this is settled. Leon has agreed to let us stay at his place, it's a lot larger and has more room, but still the same defense level, so its the perfect safe house. Even when I'm around there will be one more agent to watch you, and when I'm not there's going to be two. Most likely, it will either be Leon, Carter, Cloud, Axel, or Yuffie. You do what they say, when they say it. That clear?" Nods all around. Good. "Are we going to lock you up in a house for the entire stay? No. But we are going to play it safe, so if you're going somewhere even just for a few minutes let one of us know."

Carter leaned over to whisper in her ear. "You gonna take them to base?"

She thought for a moment before nodding. "Tomorrow I have to turn in the infiltration plan to your dad, we want to get it done as soon as possible to find out what they're up to. They'll stay there for the duration of the mission."

"You're going on a mission?" Namine asked with worry.

Shade nodded. "I want to find out exactly how much they know and if they're planning another attack so that way next time we're ready." Glancing at the clock she saw it was pushing eight that night. Darkness had already settled in the area and she thought that no one really had eaten anything actually fulfilling. "We'll talk about it later. I'm going to make us some food. For tonight you guys are going to have to camp out here in the living room until we get you into Leon's place tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Sora said, stretching out his arms. "So what's for dinner." Namine giggled and Kairi whacked her friend on the shoulder. "Sora! That's rude."

"Actually, that's a good question." Carter said, chuckling as it was Shadow's turn to punch him on his arm. "Yeah yeah, I'm just thinking something simple. Tacos sound good to you guys?"

"Oh yeah!" Roxas said, after all it was one of his top favorite foods.

Shade smirked and started for the kitchen. That's when Riku's eyes caught sight of the XBox 360. "Hey, any good games for the game console?"

"Blur. Halo: Reach, Dragon Age Origins, Bioshock 2, just open up the book next to it, it has all my games."

Riku opened up the black CD holder and his eyes widened when he saw the selection. Riku and Sora looked over his shoulder and grinned, looking at the twins. "OK, she's awesome."

The silver haired teenager started to pull out Resident Evil 5. Maybe this wasn't going to be as boring as it led itself to believe.


	9. Paintball Mission

_You felt the coldness in my eyes,  
__It's something I'm not revealing.  
__Though you got used to my disguise,  
__You can't shake this awful feeling._

_It's the me that I let you know,  
__Cause' I'll never show,  
__I have my reasons,  
__I hate to say that I told you so,  
__But I told you so._

_There's blood on my hands like the blood in you.  
__Some things can't be treated so,  
__Don't make me,  
__Don't make me be myself around you._

"Everyone in position." A cold voice asked through the speaker, the message being relayed to the rest of their team by their ear pieces. The agents were in the field, and a good fifty miles away the small group of teenagers sat or stood in the surveillance room, watching their movements on the screen that was indicated by the red dots on the map, the surrounding screens separate cameras of each one. Namine winced at the tone, then realized this was a side of their older sister that they had never seen before.

"Yuffie ready to go!"

"Cloud, in position."

"This is Tifa, ready when you are."

"Axel, let's get this started!"

Shade was currently in a group that she would say any day were her friends. They were a wide variety of different attitudes, likes and dislikes, but they were the ones that had helped her adjust to this life each in their own different ways. Tifa had been the one that showed her how to fight in hand-to-hand combat, before Leon followed up with showing her the wide variety of weapons. Cloud was the one who taught her how to ride motorcycles, one of the tops things in her life, seeing as how she always needed a break from life the freedom that it brought helped bring that release.

Yuffie was one of those people who refused to take no for an answer, and she was the only one that got Shade doing the variety of things that weren't actually work related, claiming that if she didn't, 'the place would slowly send her soul to rot in hell.' Then of course Axel, how him and Carter always put up with her and her normally hellish behaviors. Cid, he was the one she had learned a variety of colorful words from, and also how to almost take an entire engine apart and put it back together. He was the best mechanic out there, and had passed on his skills to her, and she could almost look at him like a rough father figure. Like she said though, it was very rough, but sometimes he got the job done and made sure she didn't do anything to stupid, along with almost everyone else she knew.

"Everyone get ready, infiltration in five." Shade said. This was her life, her _real _life, leading missions that would no doubt endanger them all but save the lives of countless others. So for her real life, she allowed her normal attitude take over.

"Yuffie, you ready?"

"You got it Commander!" She replied, and everyone could almost hear the grin in her face. "Let's kick some bad guy butt!"

Shade smirked as she dropped down from the ledge she had been holding onto and landed quietly on the ground, the dirt remaining compact under her solid boots as she broke out a small kit and started working on the lock that held the large power box closed. In seconds it was open and she put it away, unsheathing a dagger instead and looking through the various wires, studying them. "Let's bring the hell." She muttered to herself, barely audible to the speaker as she reached up and the blade sliced cleanly through the wire, silencing the alarm system, before she took a step back, then spun around, her boot slamming into the system, sparks flying brightly.

On the surveillance cameras they watched as almost the entire building blacked out, and low chuckling could be heard on the speakers. Axel looked through the scope from a separate lone building and watched the entrance, sighting the lock through the cross hairs. "Twenty bucks I can blow the lock."

Carter smirked and hit a button in the surveillance room, "You're on."

A shot was fired and Axel chuckled as he heard cursing in the background while the door was blown inward. "Thanks Axy!" Yuffie called, using her nickname for him, and a small lithe body slipped through the doors. "Just give me a second!"

Shade walked along the side of the building towards the front, leaving behind the body of one of the guards sprawled on the ground. Cloud was at the opposite end across from her, and she nodded once before he returned it. Yells were heard before there was a bright flash of light inside, and a few scant seconds later everything was quiet. "Move." Shade whispered, and they both took to the front doors, quickly slipping in to the large lobby.

"Heya captain." Yuffie chirped, standing in a large room of coworkers, who were currently unconscious on the ground.

Shadow nodded and glanced down the hallway where at least six elevator doors lined the walls, each leading to a specific part of the building that was overflowing with information. Tifa came in behind them and jumped over the desk, taking a seat before flipping open one of the binders and scanning the contents. "Activities in Progress." She said. "Shade, looks like the third elevator on the right.

"Got it." She started walking and they knew that this building was storming with guards and workers. She had thrown the building into lock down from the power grid, and had a solid ten minutes before it was possible it could be broken through. "Cloud, with Tifa. Yuffie, you're with me." The claimed ninja quickly ran to catch up with her before the doors slid closed. "Axel, got us covered out there?"

"You know it."

XXXXXX

Axel looked through his scope and could see Cloud and Tifa, the latter working behind the desk as she quickly gathered information on their current settings. He glanced at his watch and saw that seven minutes had elapsed. "We've got company." Tifa said, and he heard over her speaker the shouts that were coming from near their position.

Cloud came around and brought his large Buster Sword up in front of him. "Tifa, keeping working. See if you can map us a route to the roof." The raven haired girl nodded and quickly went back to work. "Axel, got me covered?" His quiet voice said, seeming to study the situation.

"You know it man." He replied.

Cloud had three of them rush him at one time. He sidestepped the first one and brought the sword around, having it slam into the last two before he turned around, his now red weapon blocking the bullets that suddenly flew towards him before he used his leg and slammed it into the guards chest, the force of the attack sending him back twenty feet before creating a large hole in the wall.

"Fire!" Just as the leader of the squad spoke the glass from the front of the building spider webbed, small bullet holes appearing as the targets dropped quickly, mostly with head shots. Cloud and Axel continued their fighting while Tifa was quietly talking to herself, verbally planning their escape route. Why were they taking the roof? Simple, because the entire building was quickly being surrounded by not law enforcement, but instead the rest of the mush larger and deadlier gang that had started the war in the first place.

Yuffie's voice came over their earpieces. "Guys! You wouldn't believe what we found!" Gunshots were heard in the background and their leader's clear cursing could be heard in the background. "Yuffie, move it!" She barked, shoving the girl towards the door. "Tifa, got the way mapped?"

"Meet up with us on the fifteenth floor in the stairwell." She said quickly, pushing herself up from behind the desk and joining up with Cloud before they ran to the stairs. They slammed the door open and found themselves glancing up to see the at least mile and a half stretch above them. The blond glanced over and saw Tifa smile. "Shall we?" He just nodded and the both of them dropped down, before the powerful force of their legs kicked up and they flew up past the first fifteen turns in the stairwell.

Shade meanwhile was running down the hallway quickly. Yuffie was a few feet in front of her and running quickly as the team leader turned around and covered their backs from the leagues of guards that were charging after them, quickly dropping bodies to the floor. "Found it!" Yuffie cheered, opening up the door. She turned around to call to Shade but her eyes widened when she was shoved in, the girl's body quickly following before it slammed shut. "Move." She said, voice ice cold. The ninja nodded, the tone not surprising her, not after what they had just learned.

Suddenly Cloud and Tifa were there on the same level at them. They took one look at Shade and knew this wasn't going to last long for their enemies if they stuck around, no doubt she was seriously considering the one of the largest massacres ever. "Let's keep moving." He said, looking at her, his voice quiet but serious.

She nodded and shoved another clip into one of her guns. "Go."

It wasn't until just under two minutes later that they emerged from the large door that led them to the large and clear rooftop. "Get us out of here Josh." Shade said into the small mouthpiece. The sounds of the beating blades of a helicopter soon reached their ears. She turned when she heard the door getting pounded on, and the shouts resounding from the other side. Shade glanced over at Tifa and smirked, the girl grinning as they walked over to the position. Cloud decided to let the two have their fun while Yuffie laughed, knowing the opposing team was in for a world of hurt.

The metal finally gave in and the door crashed open, immediately streaming in their new opponents. Shadow unsheathed two long daggers and Tifa slid on her leather gloves. "Which side would you like Shade?" She offered.

"I'll go right you go left."

"Sounds good." The helicopter started lowering down, Cloud and Yuffie the closest, and they watched as the two girls fought side by side. Tifa was using her strong legs and firm arms mostly to cause the damage that mostly left her targets unconscious, while Shadow had a more bloodier path as her daggers moved swiftly and with ease, normally coming across or going through the throat where the armor failed to protect.

Yuffie turned around and took the offered hand of Axel while Cloud simply jumped in, turning around and putting two fingers to his mouth to let out a loud and clear whistle. Both girls disengaged from the attack and turned to start running for the helicopter. Things got more challenging as bullets flew over their heads and towards their transportation, causing it to have to pick up off the ground and start heading for the edge of the building. "Go!" Shade yelled, and Tifa launched herself, her foot catching the support bar as she kicked off it to get in.

The helicopter was now no longer over the building instead a few feet away from the edge. Shade felt a bullet fly over her shoulder, just barely skimming the material of her shirt before she pushed herself the final few feet. Her foot landed on the edge of the building before she bent slightly and shoved off with all her strength, and everyone watched with shock as she reached out towards the retreating helicopter and caught the bar with her hands, now hanging only by sheer force of strength and will as it quickly started flying away. She swung her leg up, hair flying in front of her face, and climbed up, getting her feet underneath her before grabbing another bar vertical to the opened doors so she could pull herself up and stand just outside the door, looking back at the building they had left in chaos. "This is Commander Shade to base, mission accomplished, we're heading back."

XXXXXX

Shade was dressed in pitch black cargo pants and a form fitting black tank top with her solid army boots. Her dog tags stayed in place as she walked and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail to keep out of her face. She looked more like a soldier than anything at the moment, and she felt like it to, or at least felt like anyone else who killed on a daily basis. Was she disturbed about what she just did? Not even close, it was actually nice, and she knew that the blood lust for her enemies were going to be helping keep her going, and she knew it would never die down as well, at least not until their leader was dead or she knew for sure he was out of the picture.

One of the agents walked up to her after coming through one of the many doors that lined the hallway. "Miss Shade." He greeted. "There's a visitor here to see you."

She slowly raised an eyebrow at this. "Really?"

"It's a young woman. She said her name is Christy Lethan and that she knows you." Shade nodded to confirm this. "Anyone else?"

"There is a small girl with her as well." He confirmed. She nodded and dismissed him, leaving the man to continue on with his work as she started heading to the main and first hallway in the large building. After rescuing Samantha a few months back she had surprisingly kept in touch with the small family, one thing that she had never done before, and only at the request of the daughter who had asked if she would visit often. It may not have been like she went over there every other day, but every three weeks or so she would drop buy and buy the kid some ice cream or take her to the park for an hour or so, and the parents were completely fine with this as well as thankful that she had been keeping her word to their daughter.

Shade opened up the door and was greeted with the sight of the two girls. The mother was a few years older than her, maybe four or five, and the daughter was still four, but if Shadow remembered correctly she would be having her birthday soon. "Hi Shade!" The small girl yelled, letting go of her mothers hand to go and give her a tight hug. She smiled and bent down, picking the child up and bringing her in a tight embrace. "Hey there kiddo, how's it going?"

"Good." She chirped. "Guess what!"

"What's up?" She asked, smiling a greeting at her mother, who was smiling kindly at her.

"My birthday is next week!" She giggled. Her mother laughed quietly and continued on for her. "We are having a party for her and she insisted that you come. It will mostly just be family but we would be honored if you came."

"When is it?"

"Next Saturday at noon. It will be just a large picnic. Would you like to come?" Samantha was looking at Shade with large eyes that practically begged her to go. Mentally sighing, she nodded her head. "I would be honored." She said, then glanced at Samantha. "So what do you want for your birthday kiddo?"

"A new bike!" She yelled, and Shadow chuckled.

"Alright, well I have to get back to work but I'll make sure to drop by Saturday." The mother nodded, knowing Shade's field of work the parents understood that her time was restricted, something their daughter still didn't understand.

Shadow put the girl down and let her go back to her mom. "Be careful you two, and I'll talk to you later." Samantha waved happily as her friend smiled back before disappearing back behind a door after running her ID card over the scanner.

"Thank you mom!" She said with a smile, and the woman smiled at her daughter as well. "Do you think she'll be able to stay this time?"

"Maybe not sweety, but I know she'll try." It wasn't an absolute yes, but this seemed to satisfy the child as they turned to leave the building.

XXXXXX

"Please tell me you aren't going to say what I think you're going to say." Axel groaned, walking next to Larxene as they made their way to the training grounds for some of the newer agents. The blond was wearing a pair of black jeans and a tight strapless white shirt that was bejeweled along the edges. Tattoos covered her arms and slightly trailed up her neck, marking her position as their professional ink artist that gave everyone their marks. She grinned wickedly and shook her head.

"Carter said she had two beers last night. And everyone knows she doesn't get drunk, but she does get easily pissed. So, turns out that she chose to check up on the substitute teacher."

They were now standing in front of the door to the room that was normally Shadow's training center. Carter was standing there and his brother Jason was with him, along with the five teenagers who were looking at them curiously. "So what are we waiting for?" Riku asked, arms crossed over his chest as he glanced around in the large hallway.

"So who did the distraction?" Carter asked, ignoring him.

"Apparently Yuffie, and you know how Shade can tell she's stalling. So she should be here in-"

"Yuffie, knock it off." Shadow's voice was slightly more annoyed than what she had been earlier, and noticed the group that had gathered in front of the room. "What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing." The adults said in union, and the visitors looked at them curiously. Shadow shrugged it off and opened up the large metal door before stepping inside, letting it close shut behind her. Roxas was next to speak. "You guys are making it sound like something expected is going to happen."

"Because it is." Axel replied, running a hand through his hair. "Just watch, who wants to do the countdown?"

"Oh, I call dibs." Larxene said with another nymph grin. "Let's see, we should be getting a show in five- four- three- two-"

The door crashed open and Shade was there, a scowl on her face as she walked out dragging someone behind her, literally. A man who was probably in his late twenties found himself gagged and hands tied over his head as she held the rope with a firm grip, his body scraping against the ground. He was trying to talk behind the gag and thrashing as well, but his attempts were useless.

Carter snickered as Shadow started to take him away from the training ground, not bothering to say anything to them. "Apparently her class missed her."

Kairi and Namine looked after them, their eyes wide. "Why was she-"

"Don't ask." Axel said, smirking. "Come on, we'll show you around one of the places Shadow practically owns." They followed the redhead inside and were led into a huge room, about half the size of the football sized gym room their sister and friends fought in. It was mostly a large empty space with a large 20x20 corner dedicated to different weapons and tools that they trained with. Large windows were lined against the ceiling and there were probably about fifteen or so guys with another four girls in the room, talking amongst themselves.

"Hello rookies." Larxene said. Everyone turned their attention to the tattooist and it was evident that she was well known. "Obviously your substitute's services are no longer required." This earned her a couple laughs. "So I'm guessing you have three and a half minutes before she gets back. Be forewarned, these two are her sisters," She motioned to the twins. "And their friends, so watch what you say, and don't go around stating that we didn't warn you." She smirked. "Oh yeah, throw in a couple beers and a late night working." Curses and groans were followed by this statement.

"So, what happens when she has some alcohol and no sleep?" Namine asked innocently. "She doesn't look like she's to affected by it."

"She's not." Carter agreed. "However, her tolerance is a lot thinner than normal."

"Alright, everybody line up." Shade's firm voice came in from behind them and immediately the group watched as they took on a more serious mood. "I want to make sure the idiot didn't waste any of your brain capacity on useless things. Who's new?" One of the girls and two of the guys raised their hands, and she nodded. "Alright, you three over against that wall." She vaguely motioned to the one behind her. "Rest of you know the drill."

"But Commander." One said, "Isn't this drill getting old?" Axel noted that it was one of her students she had had for a while now. He winced when Shade paused for a minute and turned to him. "How so?"

"Well, if the newbies are staying out of it, we've basically mastered this dodging practice, why not something tougher, more challenging.

A grin came across her face, small, but malicious as well. "Sounds good."

XXXXXX

"Ready." The weapons were brought up. "Aim." The targets were staring wide-eyed at the shooters, suddenly cursing their teammate's suggestion of a harder warm up. At first it sounded appealing, but now, well, the brightly colored bruises were already getting darker.

"Fire." Screams were heard as they scattered like deer around the obstacle course, the goal to get from one side of the room to the other while paint balls were raining down upon them as four of Shade's friends stood on the platform built into the wall, metal steps leading up to it. "Come on guys, suck it up and use your freakin' heads!" Shadow said, watching the progress of the three that were currently working to get to the other side safely. "Alright, stop." The runners immediately froze, as did the paint balls.

She walked up to Kathryn, one of the senior trainees, and paused. "Kathryn, I already got you a recommendation for a team leader apprentice once you finish here, and this is making me start to give it second thoughts." The blond winced at this but nodded, breathing slightly harder as she caught her breath from the run. "That's one of the things you have to learn, remember, sometimes defense get's you there faster than offense. This is still something I gotta see you work on, alright?"

"Yes Commander Shade." She said with a firm nod, a new look of determination in her eyes.

"Reset." Shade called, walking back up the metal steps as the three targets walked back to the beginning through the large and solid obstacles that were placed around the room. Shade took the paintball gun from Jason and held it loosely at ready in her arms. "Defense people! Kathryn, give it another shot." She brought the gun up to her shoulder and sighted one of the three people. "Ready. Go!"

As the training practice went on Sora and Riku were watching it from the corner of the balcony. "She seems pretty harsh." The brunette commented, tilting his head slightly as he looked at the scene before him.

"Yeah, but look, they've really improved this round." Riku commented, and sure enough less blows had been taken and they were already half way through the course.

"Sam, quicker dodges." Shade called.

"It looks like they do like her as a teacher." Sora complimented.

"Nice job guys." Shadow said, raising her rifle and smirking slightly as the three cheered at the finish line. "Alright, next group get ready." When no one stepped up to the entrance of the gate she looked over her shoulder. "Boys, that's you."

Riku and Sora gaped at her. "What?"

"Axel, help them out." Kairi and Namine were giggling widely as Roxas was also dragged off and down the stairs.

"Don't worry, she's at least giving you some protection, thicker clothes, knee pads, the normal." He smirked. "But that does mean she ain't going to give you guys any missed shots."

"Should we be scared?" Roxas asked, somewhat hopeful he'd give them some reassurance.

"You should be terrified." Axel thought with a grin.

XXXXXX

Shadow aimed the rifle, staring down the sight and towards the blond haired teen in the group. "Alright guys, the goal is to get to the other side of the room in fifteen minutes or less."

"This is abuse!" Sora yelled from the starting point, and the girl chuckled. "It keeps you alert. Axel, give them the signal."

"OK boys, give us a show. Three. Two. One." Shade, Larxene, and Yuffie all fired shots, immediately nailing the targets as they rushed out of the zones. The two smaller ones stumbled but Riku seemed to take the hit well, instead opting for grabbing them by the back of their shirts and throwing them behind one of the obstacles for protection. "Listen guys, you need to keep hidden behind these barriers, it's going to be the only thing helping us out."

"I vote we split, not far, but enough to where they won't be able to attack us in a group." Roxas said.

"Maybe we should go stagnant with our moves as well. "Sora suggested. "I mean, keep it sketchy."

"Sounds like a plan. Roxas, you take lead and Sora, follow four seconds after him to the left of whichever route he goes. I'll follow behind you guys because I can catch up faster." Sora put his fist in the center and his two friends followed suit. "Whoever gets out with the least amount of bruises buys the others soda." Roxas said with a grin.

"Deal."

The blond took off first, taking the path to the somewhat right and behind a low wall, moving in a crouched position. Sora counted a couple seconds before he went more left hearing as the paintball hit the spot near his foot as he jumped over a low wall and dropped down, hearing the solid thuds on the other side of his barrier. Finally Riku moved, first going left towards Sora's position before he breaked, seeing the paintball collide with his upper arm before he quickly started to basically army crawl behind the log-like obstacle, moving swiftly.

"Grats guys, you're friends aren't stupid." Shadow said to her sisters, smirking while she sighted Sora and pulled the trigger, hearing him let out a grunt of pain but kept going before taking cover behind another wall. Yuffie fired a shot and it grazed Roxas' spikey hair, painting it the color of blue before the majority of it landed somewhere next to him. "Oh Roxas." The ninja sang. "Why don't you stand up just a little bit straighter for me."

"Like hell!" He yelled back, opting for lying down on his stomach instead. He glanced up and could see the exit in front of him, one more wall that he could easily jump between them. He yelped when someone landed next to him and partly on top of him. "Freedom straight ahead." Sora said with a grin. "You ready?"

Just for fun Larxene fired a couple shots over their position and laughed when she heard cursing coming from their general direction. "Waiting on you twerps!"

Shadow was studying the scene before them, already knowing where the two friends were but wondering where the silver haired teen had gone. She paused when she noticed one of the punching bag-like walls move every so slightly and slowly raised her gun. A few seconds later she fired.

Riku dashed from behind his wall of protection and immediately dived, rolling on his shoulder to avoid the paintball that was aimed for his leg, quickly getting back on his feet and running past his two friends. "Three seconds." Was all he said as he ran past, now having paint balls raining down on him. The two immediately knew what to do, and when three seconds passed they were up and following their friend.

Riku's arm grabbed the wall and he vaulted over, cursing as pain flared up his arm as the ball hit him just a few inches above his wrist. He roughly landed and launched himself towards the finish line, immediately noticing how the ceased firing at him. Sora and Roxas stumbled in after him and they could vaguely hear the twins cheering from above the balcony, including a few of Shade's students who were over on that side of the course.

"That chick is not normal." Roxas complained quietly, earning chuckles from his two friends.

"Who's up for round two?" Larxene called, and in response she got a trio of groans.


	10. The Plan

_Holding on too tight.  
__Breath the breath of life,  
__So I can leave this world behind._

_It only hurts just once.  
__They're only broken bones  
__Hide the hate inside  
__  
So I can leave this world behind._

_Holding on too tight.  
__Breathe the breath of life,  
__So I can leave this world behind. _

She was in a dress, solid black with nothing else, her hair pulled back into a tight bun and dressed in very small heels. Black eyeliner and a blank expression showed the seriousness of the situation. She was going to the funeral that was held for the nine agents that had died just a few days ago. She hated these, and had only been to a handful of them, and each time she would once again vow that she would never allow one of her own to be the ones resting in the casket in front of her.

Only a few selected were there to attend the funeral since the entire base would just fill up the entire cemetery. Mr. Ogatami, Carter and Jason were almost necessities, they were of the highest ranks in the place. Then you had team Commanders. Shade, Zack Fair, a solid comrade of hers, then of course there was Sephiroth. He was cold, emotionless, and cruel, but one of the best leaders she had ever seen and had a strong respect for in the work field. He was the one that had taught her how to cope with killing someone, in his harder way of course. She didn't see much of him, since he worked more along side the international federals around the world when they were called upon, she was a freelancer, not caring for the rules they brought to the game. Finally with the higher ranks there were a few others, so there was only a total of about twenty or so people.

She walked up to the caskets, nine of them lined in a neat row, and looked at each picture, studying the faces, they weren't close, but they were people, ones that she knew were working to help the world and make up for their mistakes in the past.

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she walked past each casket, leaving a black rose on each one before going back and standing to watch the others. No words were said, no depressing music played, just people who came to say their goodbyes and acknowledge the fact that nine good men were now dead. Shade saw out of the corner of her eye someone come up next to her, and from the deep black hair he had she recognized him as Zack. "It never gets easier." He said quietly, his normal cheerful voice morbid.

"And it never will." She replied. "I'm sorry about Josh's death."

"He was a helluva agent." Zack said. "I'm gonna miss having him on my team." She just nodded and they both watched as the group finished walking by the caskets, now witnessing as they were slowly lowered one by one into the deep holes made specifically for them.

The time spent at the cemetery was a solid half hour before they started to disburse. Shadow walked towards her truck with her heals in her hands, her bare feet being encased by the soft green grass. "So what did you find on your infiltration mission?" Zack asked.

She scowled. "Bastards have been planning it for a while. Don't know how but they found out the rough estimate on when I was going to take my vacation and planned it in that time frame. They had addresses, some of my more recent jobs that I took, even a couple of my usual suppliers. I called them yesterday, and they said no one knew has come up or inquired about me. It sounds like they planned on making a second attack a few weeks from now, but our little stunt on their territory has them scrambling."

"But all you did was take some information, how would that kill them? Wait, don't bother. Let me guess, you blew the system or something." He chuckled at her grin.

"Just wiped out their entire database and screwed with the security system." She said casually. "That should keep them occupied for a while."

"So you doing anything this Sunday? Couple of Commanders are heading out to do some hunting if you're interested."

"We'll see, got a lot going for me at the moment." She made a face as she opened up her door and tossed her shoes in. "You want a ride?"

"I'm good, Sephiroth gave me a ride and we'll just end up following you back to base." She nodded at this and climbed in. "See you when we get there then."

"Hey! Hitting the bar tonight, so be ready by six!" He called, walking away. She smirked and nodded her head as she started up the engine.

She was on a long stretch of road with the window rolled down, hair out of it's confinement, and Three Days Grace blasting, her thoughts on how she was going to proceed with the current situation. So it was because of these that she didn't notice the jeep that moved over from behind Zack and Sephiroth and started driving on the road next to her, quickly catching up.

When she glanced over she found herself looking into a car with its window rolled down and a gun pointed right at her. Her feet slammed on the gas and she swerved to the inner lane, hearing the gunshots as they made holes into her vehicle. They picked up speed as well and swung around, however this time when they caught up she returned fire, the wind still whipping in her face. Neither of the opponents realized that they were coming up along a cliff edge.

A honking from Sephiroth brought her out of her battle and she looked ahead, saw the cliff, and slammed on the brakes, both hands quickly turning the wheel to the right and into the turn, but it wasn't enough as the truck slid off the cliff sideways, followed by the jeep into the ravine below.

XXXXXX

"Shade!" Zack stared wide eyed at the destroyed guard rail that had just had his friend's truck crash through it. Sephiroth quickly pulled over and they got out, going to the edge to cautiously glance over, the silver haired Commander already having a cellphone at his side. "We've got an accident twelve miles south of the cemetery, agent's car has rolled over a cliff and we need back up along with a medical team." He stayed on the phone while Zack started climbing down the steep hill, his feet sliding underneath him but managing to stay upright.

The truck was currently on it's side, the drivers window face down in the dirt, and filled with bullet holes. Dust was settling around the area and he didn't see any smoke, a good sign. The jeep was on it's roof a few yards away, and grudgingly he pulled out a gun and quickly went over, glancing inside. Two men, one driver and one shooter, were in the seats, the gun nowhere to be found. He reached in and felt for a pulse of the shooter, and found one, it was faint, but he probably didn't have long considering he was bleeding heavily, one from the gunshot in his side and from the other deep cuts from when the car flipped. "No serious loss." He muttered, running over to the truck. "Shade!"

He climbed on top and opened up the passengers door. "Shade." He said, carefully lowering himself in. The said girl was currently somewhat laying on top of broken glass, blood covering a good amount of her body and her eyes were closed. He reached down and found a pulse, steadier than the last ones but her wounds were worrying him. He heard something on top of the truck and found Sephiroth there. "How is she?"

"Alive, but seriously hurt. Think you can flip the truck back on it's wheels?" The man nodded and he disappeared. Zack went back and pushed her hair back to reveal the gash she had received. "Shade, come on, wake up." But there still was no response.

He braced himself in an awkward position to hold Shade steady as he felt the truck slowly start arching back on all four wheels, before it landed with a harsh jolt. Sephiroth opened up the door and carefully picked her up and out of the car.

The sound of sirens came from the mountain top to alert them that help was there.

XXXXXX

Cloud was one of the first to hear about the accident. Him and Yuffie had been going over some of the files that Shadow had requested when the call came in that a car with one of their agents had flipped over a cliff edge in a fire fight. While this was surprising enough, when a call came in from Zack, a good friend of his, he was alerted that it was Shade that had been in the truck, and was currently being rushed to their emergency room.

That explained how he was here now, standing back with the two Commanders as they watched the doctors start working to stop Shadow's bleeding. She held up a lot better than her attackers, who were currently in body bags, but the damage was still heavy. He glanced over at Zack, his gaze questioning and relaying the message. "We were on our way back from the funeral when those two jackasses pulled up next to her and shot out her car. She returned fire but both didn't notice the sharp turn or the cliff edge before they went straight through the railing." He shut up when a doctor walked up to them.

"She's stable, and should be fine, but currently unconscious, she took a hard blow to the head but we don't think anything could result from it, however we will be keeping an eye out for any brain trauma. A few deep cuts and a piece of glass was able to embed itself in between her ribs, by some miracle missing any organs, but she'll recover completely."

They said their thanks before hearing the door slam in behind them, and saw something they rather wouldn't have, Shadow's two twin sisters, with horror struck faces. They quickly went up to their sister and the nurses gave them room before Kairi was the one to ask what had happened.

Sephiroth stepped forward to relay the incident, and could see they were both fighting to hold themselves together, and doing a decent job at it as well. He then informed them of her wounds and they nodded their thanks, quickly looking back at her. "Do you know when she'll wake up?"

"She just needs rest, but she should be conscious soon." He confirmed, his emotionless voice not having the normal terrifying effect it did on others, the two were too preoccupied at the moment.

"Thank you sir." Namine said quietly, a small smile on her lips. "For helping her get out of that ditch." She smiled her thanks at Zack too, who bowed his head.

"Who else knows?" He asked his blond friend.

"News is spreading fast, so give it about fifteen more minutes at the entire base will." He sighed and shook his head.

"This is not good timing at all. If the Devil's Harvesters take a chance to attack now it's going to be harder to take the offense like last time. We're nine men and one Commander short."

Cloud frowned slightly. "That's probably what they wanted. I'm going to go check the patrol schedule and see if any alterations need to be made." Zack nodded as he left the room looking back at Shade. _You gotta get back in the game soon Shade, or else we're in trouble._

XXXXXX

Axel, Carter, Zack, and Tifa were currently sitting around one of the gathering tables, the information scattered around it as they stared at the center. "She is not going to be happy." Tifa said worriedly.

"But it's the only solid plan we have. And I'm sure if she agreed to it she could work out the final kinks and make it full proof." Axel replied.

"When should we try to get this plan into action?" Carter said.

"At least within three days of Shade waking up without falling unconscious three minutes later." Zack said. "You're only real problem is getting her to agree. If you do, which I'm still not entirely sure about, then she'll be ready to go in no time, we all know her." This got him agreements from the others.

"And we still have to ask them if they want to, I mean they're just teenagers." Carter commented. "They weren't raised like we were."

"There's only one way to find out." Zack said with a sigh, grabbing his phone and ringing up one of the agents with the request.

A solid five minutes later Riku, Sora, Roxas, Kairi, and Namine found themselves standing before the group. "Is something wrong guys?" Sora asked.

"Depends how you define it." Axel said. "So how about we just jump right into things?" When he received nods from everyone Carter motioned for him to continue. "We were able to gain valuable information from Shade's infiltration job a few days ago. Turns out there is a drug dealer that has codes were could use to get into their main base for a final attack that she's no doubt going to want to do."

"That's great." Namine said.

"It is." Tifa agreed. "But he's also one of the most elusive as well. Only a rare few know his actual whereabouts, but we've found out how to locate him."

The teenagers stayed silent so Carter continued. "Unfortunately they are also known for being able to pull off successful kidnappings, normal of people ages thirteen to their low twenties. No one has been able to find where they have been gone."

Riku wasn't stupid, and he caught on quickly. "What can we do." He said.

Zack grinned, "Smart. You guys are pretty much the only candidates that could pull off being their victims, however, we would be tracking you, and would be able to follow you straight back to their hideout. A team would meet up with you shortly after you've been introduced to the head honcho. We'd get the codes from him and move onto the next step of whatever plan is going through her head. So, what do you guys say?"

"We're in." The chorus was almost freaky as the five of them said it at once. "When can we go?"

The adults glanced at each other. "Well, first we have to run it by the boss, but he's pretty close to a definite yes if you agreed to ago like you just did. So that leaves only one obstacle. Shadow isn't going to be easy to talk into letting you guys do this. Sephiroth is one of our best strategic planners, but she's the normally the only one that can carry them out his way, and that normally results in absolutely nothing going wrong."

"So when would we do it if she says yes?" Roxas asked.

"Probably within two days of her recovering." Carter said. "So if she says yes, then you guys still in?"

"Definitely." Kairi said. "If we can help out, then we will."

XXXXXX

A day and a half later she woke up, fully conscious, and recovering nicely. She could feel the soreness in her limbs, more specifically somewhere between one of her ribs. Lifting the loose white shirt she saw the bandages wrapped around her stomach. A few smaller ones were throughout her body and she cursed softly before pushing off the sheets and swinging her legs over, seeing she was glad in loose white shorts as well.

OK, she hated doctors, and with a passion. She understood all the good things they could do, but she didn't like the idea of them injecting her with various medicines, there were so many things a syringe could hold inside it. So she had no problem leaving without their consent.

But apparently someone else did.

"And where do you think you are going Missy?" Yuffie said, arms on her hips and feet planted apart.

"Getting the hell out of here." She said with a smirk, pulling Yuffie by the arm with her. "So fill me in. What's been going on?"

So you had the agent that claimed she was a ninja, and one of the most well known Commanders, walking through the hallways to the mess hall, one of them with a shuriken, while the other was in loose white hospital clothes. Definitely a sight to see. "Well, the other two guys that shot at you are dead. The place has been chaos but doing good since we've had loads of Intel coming in, we've got a plan to get you the codes to the Devil's main playground."

Shade raised her eyebrows at this. "Oh really."

"Yep." She said happily. "There's a drug dealer that has them all and we figured out how to get to him using bait."

"What's the bait."

"Well, turns out he's part time kidnapper as well. So we found where they most likely can occur and figured we'd be able to track the bait back to the their base and capture him."

"So who's the bait?" She asked. "Larxen and Tifa?"

"Actually, we were thinking your friends. They already decided to help and-" Her happy talking continued on for a solid minute before she realized Shade had stopped following her. "Something wrong?" She asked innocently.

"So, who thought of the idea?" She asked.

"Eh, mostly Axel and Zack, but they were kinda nervous about how you would...react." She looked back to see she had disappeared. "Uh oh."

It was Axel who took the blunt of it.

The five of them were listening as the adults spoke about the few flaws in their plan. Were they a little freaked out? Of course. But then this was a chance where they could actually help their sister, and that feeling was starting to overcome the fear. "So now we just have to tell Shade." Axel said with a sigh. "Any idea how the hell we're going to convince her?"

"Well, it is the only plan so far that is basically solid. And knowing Shade if she went along with it she would make sure it was full proof, especially with those five in the picture." Carter replied.

"So anyone know where she is right now?" Yuffie asked. Just then Tifa walked into the conference room. "Guys, we have a problem."

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked, but there was no need for an answer, it walked straight through the door.

The door slammed open, and the room seemed to freeze over. Shadow was there, her hair falling around her and still in the clothes that exposed her various bandages, but from the way she was looking at Axel and Zack you could tell she wasn't happy. She walked up to Axel, glaring at him before he felt a hand grip his neck and slam him into the wall, staring into what seemed like the eyes of death in human form.

"I left a funeral, got shot at, fell off the edge of a cliff in my truck, let me remind you one of my favorites, and was stuck in the medical ward for almost two days. Then I get told casually about my sisters and their friends going on the front lines to deal with a drug lord. I'm in a very pissed off mood Axel, choose you're words wisely."

There were many times in Namine's life where she thought she was scared. But after seeing Shadow like this, she truly realized what fear along these lines felt like. She opened her mouth but felt a hand clamp over it, and looked over to see Yuffie shaking her head, casting a warning glance at Kairi as well.

"Turns out the drug dealer could get us the codes we need to infiltrate their base a lot easier than what we had previously planned. Problem is he's never seen, his group has been tracked to the kidnappings of many of the local teenagers though, but his whereabouts are unknown. If we could get your friends in and track them then we'd be able to gain an advantage and work something out, most likely clearing out a few charges pressed against him in the past month or so." It didn't fall short of his notice that her grip had tightened bit by bit, the reason being it was getting harder to breath.

"Wrong answer." She growled, before he found his throat released and she was walking away, the door slamming shut behind her. Yuffie frowned and looked at Axel. "Where do you think she's going?"

"I've only seen her like this a hand full of times." He said, rubbing his neck. "And during those times she locked the gym down, turned up the band Insane Clown Posse, and ignored everyone for probably the next two days."

"But we don't have two days." Tifa pointed out.

"I know, and she does too, so this is not going to be pretty."

XXXXXX

It was more like a guilty pleasure song. She normally never listened to that kind of music that had continuous cussing and talked about inappropriate subjects, so of course she didn't have any of the bands CD's. However, there was one song that gave her a scary sense of calm. Of course, the name 'Chop Chop Slide' wasn't the most cheerful of things while the song was cheerful in a morbid kind of way, and the cuss words were plentiful, but she always had it on replay for these types of situations.

_Uh Oh!_

_And here we go_

_Yea_

She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, dressed in some loose cargo pants and a t-shirt, her feet actually barefoot and her dog tags currently resting on top of the gym bag. The entire room was empty save for her, and the lights were dimmed slightly, casting an eery glow. In front of her was one of her most challenging rock wall obstacles that she had come up with in her ten years of being here. This was normally how the routine worked, then she would continue on to the weight bench, followed by the tread mill, then the punching bag, and normally she didn't get any farther because the rest of her hours would be spent there.

_But some of ya'll just need to loosen up, just loosen up,_

Oh she needed to loosen up all right. She actually had to mentally tell herself to let go of Axel or else she probably would have choked him right then and there. Honestly, it was like the day was out to get her. She must have ticked off a Greek god or something to be getting all of this thrown at her at once. She sighed and lightly bounced on her feet, trying to shake the feeling of impatience off as she stared at the wall, not wearing any gear but taking in the course, mentally setting a path.

_But you know,_

_It wouldn't be a Juggalo party if somebody didn't get shot. Now right about now, I want you to picture you got two nine millimeters _

_One in each hand, and here is what you gunna do Juggalos you gunna take those guns_

_Right?_

Her hand grasped the first rock, and she slowly started to pull herself up, her feet taking their place below her before she started to move up, the speakers in the corner of the room filling the entire space with sound. The doors were locked but she knew that her normally two day stress workout was going to be just a few hours this time. There was work that had to get done, and choices to be made.

That of course drew her back to her current situation, and unfortunately she already knew her answer. Her mercenary side knew how lucky she got with the fact that the plan was pretty solid, and already had willing participants. However, there was the problem of her emotions, and that was letting the group of teenagers get dropped into that kind of situation, something that she detested. _But Sephiroth would do the planning, I would be there right behind them and ready to kill a person who even threatens them, and no problems would occur._

_Logical thinking sucks._

_And how is this new?_

XXXXXX

Sephiroth was currently in a room he spent almost most of his time in when he wasn't on missions, the operations room. His long silver hair hung over his well known coat and his shoes made little to no sound as he walked around the room, looking down at the papers in his hands. Masamune currently rested in the corner as he worked. Even though he was currently on a break he was curious about the information Shade had gathered on her last mission. She was one of the only few that he took an interest in when it came to work, and the even fewer who he would trust to carry out one of his well thought-out plans.

When the door opened he only glanced over to see Shade standing there, smirking with her arms crossed over her chest and a file in her hands. "Hello Sephiroth."

"Miss Shade." He nodded in greeting. "Feeling well?"

"I'm feeling annoyed, but that could be taken care of quickly if you're willing to help." Ah, he knew where this was going.

"What's the issue?"

"I'm sending five teenagers on the front line to be kidnapped by a drug dealer that I need to track down, then proceed to break into his surrounding where I have no idea where it is and what its defense is like." The file in her hand landed with a small 'thump' on the metal table in the center of the room.

A small smirk came across his face, a very rare sight, as he picked up the file. "And the pay?"

"The usual, three large pizza's with everything on it and a couple of beers." She grinned. "Probably going to be a late night."

He continued to look down as she said the warning. "Isn't it always."

"Good point."


	11. First Mission

_Because when I arrive I-I'll bring the fire  
__Make you come alive I can take you higher  
__What this is forgot? I must now remind you|  
__Let it rock let it rock let it rock_

_Now the son's disgraced he who knew his father  
__When he cursed his name turned and chased the dollar  
__But it broke his heart so he stuck his middle finger to the world  
__To the world to the world_

Riku had to admit, when Shade was in this type of mindset, she could be intimidating. But that was something she probably picked up over the years from being a mercenary, so it must have come as naturally as it looked. Currently she was in smokey gray cargo pants with a black sleeveless shirt, her dog tags resting around her neck. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her army boots lightly thudded against the ground as she walked. "I made trackers for each of you guys, different designs so they blend with your outfits that you already wear." She explained. Roxas received an armband exactly identical to his own, for Sora it was his crown neck piece, Kairi and Namine both had their necklaces from her, and he actually had his gloves that he wore. "There's tracking devices in here?" Sora almost asked, looking at his necklace.

"Yeah, the techs are pretty good at their jobs. Next I'm going to give you each a speaker that will allow us to hear what's going on around you. We're just going to have to go off of that, can't risk sending you in with cameras as well because you can only sneak so much technology in, and I'm not sure if these guys have scanners." They each took the small devices while she continued on.

"Simple plan. You guys are going to head to the park where the kidnappings are most common and have some food, screw around, nothing big. We'll be in touch and be watching until you're approached. After the kidnapping takes place we'll follow you guys to their base. Once we find the place then we'll be able to look up the layout of the building. Around the time you guys are introduced to the drug lord that's when we'll take things from there. When we show up, back yourselves into the nearest available wall and stay out of the way. Got it?" She received nods of acknowledgment and bit back a sigh. "Alright, Riku you'll be taking Carter's truck and drive everyone there, food is already waiting to be picked up, just got you guys some pizza and a couple of sodas."

_Please don't screw up._

XXXXXX

"This is Shade 001 in position." she said into her mouthpiece as she rested in a tree a couple hundred yards from where the teenagers were, a rifle slung across her back and a pair of binoculars in her hand. Even for a park this place was pretty dull, just to go with the rest of the city. "Zack, you got visual?"

"Yeah. Carter, how are the systems?"

Typing could be heard over their earpieces. "Ready to go, everything is up and running. Tifa, you in position?"

"Yep." Shadow glanced and could see the raven haired girl disappearing in between trees as she jogged the path most runners used. "Time?"

"It's close to hitting seven." Carter replied. "So in the next fifteen minutes or so." Shade nodded unconsciously to herself, reaching up and pressing a small button so she could switch channels. "It's Shade, how you guys holding up?"

"Full of pizza awesomeness." Sora said, and the group laughed. On any other mission she would have chewed him out, however they were supposed to be acting like this so she ignored it.

"Sounds good. Expect approach in fifteen minutes or so." she said, and could see through the lenses a few nods. "Good luck guys. And for the sake of living don't do anything stupid." This earned her laughter once again as she switched over.

Ten minutes later is when the operation was officially running. A group of six, dressed in all black to match their surroundings, approached the twins and their friends, who were currently just lounging somewhat close to one of the lamp post lights that dimly lit the dark park they were in. Shadow watched as they put up a fight, as would any teenagers would, before she saw the guns pulled out and their struggles ceased. No one was around to witness as they were roughly shoved into the large dark blue van. "Carter, track them now."

"Got it." She pulled out a small device that was almost the size of her hand and maybe only a centimeter thick and the top a complete screen. A few seconds later a map came up on it and she watched as the trackers did their job and the red dot moved in sync with the van, the coordinates quickly changing in the top right corner. "Zack, grab the truck, Tifa go with him." She dropped from the trees and started her quick run to the clearing, also towards her motorcycle. "We got an approximate location?"

"Looks like they're heading to the southern part of town, maybe in the second district, that's as far as I've narrowed it so far." Cart continued to quickly work the computers while Sephiroth watched from behind him, mostly the maps of where the current agents were.

Shadow had opted for her motorcycle, and she didn't regret this decision since the southern part of town was quite busy at this time of night, so another loud vehicle among the rest wouldn't draw to much attention. "How's their status?"

"They're a little freaked out, but for a couple of kids they're holding up well." Sephiroth said coldly. "They're six miles ahead of you, might want to pick up the speed a bit."

"Guys, I got the location of their destination." Carter said into the speaker.

"Where." Zack said, looking at the GPS in his truck.

"13500 Frozen River." He groaned and shook his head.

"They're taking them to a club?" Tifa almost asked.

XXXXXX

The bright lights were almost blinding as the music blasted in the building. Kairi winced when a couple of the dancers roughly bumped into her and stumbled, feeling hands catch her and gave a thankful look to Riku, who nodded as they continued to be led by their captors. This part of town had been more beat up than what they had seen, and this seemed like one of those underground clubs. You had the obvious pole dancers, the DJ on his private stage, and the open floor that was surrounded by booths for the people who were drinking alcohol from the bar spaced out across the far wall. The colors were darker but still kept the steady rhythm with the music as it played.

"Move it." Namine flinched when one of them shoved her forward, not liking even the slightest contact from these men. Sora and Roxas each took up a side of her and she felt more comforted after this act, giving a small smile to them. Kairi was between Roxas and Riku took up the end, so the girls weren't clear on any side.

Glancing around the redhead looked, then saw a head of long black hair with red highlighting the ends before it disappeared in the crowed, not giving her a look at her face. Since their capture no one had contacted them through the earpieces, and she wasn't sure if that was part of the plan or not but she did know that she had no control now.

Suddenly the lights disappeared and they were in a darkened hallway but still could hear the music on the other side. She could see Riku frown slightly as they moved to one of the open rooms in the hallway, no door to block them. This maze continued only for a few turns before they found themselves in a large chamber. The walls were a never ending circle of a velvet red booth chairs while a few small tables were scattered in front of it filling the space but leaving a small gap in the center. There was one more exit, the only one that broke the chain of seating, located in the corner. Various people, men and women, were seated here, wearing the normal party outfits that were proudly revealing. Namine shrunk back slightly, her hands clutching Roxas' arm as a few men winked at her and Riku growled when he could see a few girls, no doubt drunk, giggling and flashing him smiles.

But what really mattered to them was the man who sat in the center of this. He had gelled bright blond hair that was slightly spiked and a lean body, dressed in black pants and a button up white shirt that had the final few toward the top undone, giving it a more laid back look. He was smirking, and the group had a hard time looking at him as a drug lord. "Nice catch boys." He said, taking a drink of the glass of scotch in his hands. "They rough?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle." One said, and Sora grinned as he winced when he said this, his jaw still sore from the punch the brunette had landed.

"_Riku. Can you hear me?"_ He kept his face carefully composed and didn't answer, instead opting to strike up conversation and hope that she would take it. "So what do you want?" He asked the man, watching as his smirk widened.

"Simply keeping a business going. You'll be surprised how many people would 'adopt' children to help keep their houses clean."

"_Keep doing exactly that, we need a couple more minutes."_ "You don't seriously expect us to be adopted when we actually have parents." Sora argued.

"Kid, almost anything is possible if it's illegal." This got him a laugh from the room and Roxas growled.

"That's sick."

"That's business." He said with a nod, and grin, before finishing his drink. "Been getting away with it for twelve years now and don't expect to stop any time soon."

All five of their earpieces went off at once. _"Get down."_

They dropped to the floor as the door suddenly crashed in and the room filled with smoke from the mini explosion. Riku felt something grab his arm and pull him, briefly resisting until he saw the faint outline of Tifa and grabbing the person closest to him, which was Kairi.

Screams erupted around them and when they got out Roxas was there as well, all four of them looking inside the room before Tifa motioned for them to stay put and moved back into the haze. The two bodies of the guards were slumped against the ground and unresponsive, but they didn't dwell on the uncomfortable thought to long.

Gunshots rang throughout the area and then the smoke started to slowly clear. Kairi saw Shade and Tifa there, surrounded by a few bodies while it looked like the people who had been partying had been left living, unless they had fought back, then they were just dead. Shade quickly looked around, noticing how Sora and Namine weren't there, as was their target. "Tifa, escort them out now." She held the mouthpiece close to her ear. "Zack, need you in here now. Sephiroth, I need directions on where the two are heading."

"Second exit, third door on the right and straight from there." Shadow kicked into a run while Tifa started to lead the three teenagers away with the intent of getting them out of the club as soon as possible.

"You need the end of the hallway before taking the left turn." Sephiroth's toneless voice came over the earpiece.

"How quickly are they moving?"

"They must be putting up a fight because it's slowed slightly from when they began."

"Surprise must have warn off and survival instincts kicked in." She said, more to herself as she made the turn, and saw a flash of brown disappear behind a door. She walked up to it just as she heard someone behind her, and spun around, gun ready, only to see Zack jogging up to her. "They in there?"

She just nodded before turning around and shoving the door open, being met with the right wall continuing down a hallway while their was a gap for another room a little down and to the left. She quickly walked in and just as a bullet flew in front of her, causing her to quickly step back to the safety behind the wall. "We want to negotiate!" This was a voice she didn't recognize, must have been one of his lackeys.

Zack smirked and shook his head as Shadow calmly stepped behind the wall and took a few steps in before two gunshots rang throughout the room. The bodies of the two men who had been holding guns to Sora and Namines heads dropped to the ground, leaving two shaken up teenagers as Shadow's gun roamed over the rest of the crowed in the room, which included their leader. "Anyone else want to negotiate?"

XXXXXX

Cloud decided that for his lunch break he'd rather have the entertainment of watching either Sephiroth or Shade interrogate the drug lord they had found. No doubt the small crowd that would be watching would have some food there as well. Once someone had even brought popcorn. So as the blond made his way to the designated room he didn't worry to much about starvation.

"Hiya Cloud!" Yuffie said with a grin. "You here to watch the interrogation?

"Yeah, who's doing it?"

"Sephiroth and Shade are double teaming it." She said excitedly. "This is going to be awesome!"

"Food?"

"Pizza and beer." She replied. "Now come on!" She proceeded to drag him into the room that had Carter, Tifa, Axel, Zack, and, to his surprise, Riku and Sora were there too, watching the man on the large wall-sized TV screen. "What are you two doing here?" Yuffie asked.

Riku shrugged. "Just thought we'd watch." Sora nodded in agreement.

"Guys, they're here." Tifa said, and they watched as the door to the room opened up. Sephiroth stepped in first, his face an emotionless mask as he stepped inside, his eyes never leaving their captive.

"A-are you the one questioning me?" He asked hesitantly.

"No. I'm the one to make sure she doesn't kill you." His eyes turned questioning but when Shade came in he paled a few shades.

"I'm the one you should be worried about." She said, walking in with a water bottle in hand. She went up to the metal table he was in front of and jumped on top, sitting Indian style in front of him with her arms resting on her legs. She studied him for a moment before looking over to Sephiroth. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Sephiroth studied the man. "Two minutes."

"No faith in him, huh?"

"None at all." Shade turned back to him and smirked. "It ain't looking good for you."

"Twenty bucks says Sephiroth's right." Carter said.

"I'll say he has three." Zack said. Everyone started pulling out money and Sora glanced over at Cloud. "Is that all you guys do is make bets?"

"It just makes things a little more interesting. After seeing a routine so many times you do wonder if you can beat your records. It's just entertainment, no one ever takes it to seriously."

He nodded in understanding and saw Yuffie start a timer just as Shade started talking. "What do you know about the Devil's Harvesters?"

"Nothing! I swear I've never heard of them." He said quickly. Her foot came up and struck his chest, kicking his chair back and causing him to cry out when his hands were smashed between his weight. Shadow was suddenly looming over him, crouched down next to him as her hair fell over one shoulder.

"Let's try this again. Devil's Harvesters, what do you know about them?"

"Y-you're not supposed to hurt me." He stuttered, then winced when she rested a heavy boot on his chest. "Hey! Tall guy! You're supposed to make sure she doesn't hurt me!"

"No." He replied coldly. "I'm supposed to make sure she doesn't kill you." Shadow unsheathed a knife and looked at it fondly, now leaning on the table above him.

It flew through the air and his eyes widened as it embedded itself into the ground just a few scant centimeters from his head. "OK! OK! They're a full time customers, been doing business with them for years now. I swear!"

"What else." she said.

"Nothing else, they've bought slaves from us before but nothing more than that."

"How do they receive your products?"

"We deliver them straight to their base, after the first couple years they started to get tired of just meeting up, it made things easier."

"So you have codes, passwords, maps, the basics." She summed up. He gulped.

"Yeah, but I can't tell you that or else they'd-"

"Listen up." She said, waving another knife in front of her. "I can promise you, anything they'd do will be considered merciful to what I have in mind. So spill, I want that information, and if any of it is false, trust me, we'd know, then I'll gladly introduce you to pain the devil himself will envy."

The room filled with silence before he started blabbering out all sorts of information, what they needed to be able to break in to the base. Tifa stopped the timer and looked. "Two minutes, fourteen seconds."


	12. Reason To Cry

_Big tears fall down like puddles  
__When something cuts it bleeds  
__Big storms leave towns in rubbles  
__Shore just recedes_

_Take some time to secure  
__A stream of water to occur  
__But crying is a way to know  
__Your tears are how you learn and grow  
__So better off to let it flow  
__Stains on cheeks will come to know_

_Heartaches and hopes for healing  
__Through the raining of your tears  
__You'll learn the pain your feeling_

That Saturday Shadow had left a note letting the five of them know that she had a party to go to that afternoon and wouldn't be back until later, so they found themselves in Leon's large two story home. It wasn't very personal, just some random home that held the few things that he possessed. But it was large and spacious, something they all liked, especially the fact that they got their own rooms. That morning it was pushing ten o'clock before the door burst in, and they were met with a large crowd from Shade's agency.

"Hello people!" Yuffie said cheerfully, jumping in. Tifa and Aerith followed behind them before Carter, Axel, and Zack came in.

"Hi guys." Kairi greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"We decided to drag you guys on a trip to Radiant Garden's mall." Tifa said. "Things slowed down today so everyone is taking a chance to take a break."

"Don't worry guys." Carter said. "There are plenty of video game stores to go around."

"Wimps." Yuffie said, sticking her tongue out at the group of guys. "Anyways, come on, I don't want to spend all day just hanging around here."

"Shouldn't we let Shade know where we'll be?" Roxas asked.

"Nah, she knows to give one of us a call for your guys' location." Axel said, waving it off. "Let's go. Guys with us, girls with _them._" He made a fake disgusted face at Yuffie and the others, which in turn earned him a smack on the head.

"This is going to be interesting." Riku muttered.

XXXXXX

He didn't realize how right he was until just a simple twenty minutes into the trip. They were just pulling into the mall parking lot and already he had found himself dodging a food fight, courtesy of a drive through run, having talk of the best gun to use on a sniper mission, and a mini war over the radio and whether it should play punk rock or heavy metal.

When he quickly slimbed out of the truck he looked over to see the girls climbing out of their own car, which happened to be a huge jeep Wrangler, a very nice one at that. They looked over at him questioningly until the taco wrappers fell out of the car as Roxas climbed out before they started to laugh. Both boys glared but got out of the way for the rest of them to get out. "Glad to see you made it in one piece." Yuffie said, grinning.

"Are you guys alright?" Aerith asked kindly, a small smile on her face.

"Just fine." Sora said, shaking his hair out and shreds of lettuce falling to the ground. "So any good stores in here."

"There are some great clothing stores for both guys and girls." Tifa said. "There's a huge music shop in there that Shade is always visiting, and a video game store. Then there's the arcade..." This got all three of the guys attentions.

"Arcade? It any good?" Roxas asked.

"One of the best." Aerith confirmed.

"Let's get going guys, I want to check out that new video game section Axel was talking about." Zack said, stretching his arms. Once they walked through the large double doors they found out the mall happened to be three stories tall and beyond huge, making a large circular shape for the building while the center was actually a three floor park setting with grass and trees where people were eating food that they got from the food court. The place was packed with people and music could be heard faintly in the background for the main store, then the stores all had their own playing through their speakers.

"Alright, meet you guys in the food court in a few hours." Tifa said.

"The usual." Axel agreed, and both genders split into their own groups.

"How long is a few hours?" Sora asked innocently.

"Normally six or seven." Zack replied, laughing at the horror stricken looks on their faces. "Relax, there is no problem keeping ourselves entertained while they go into the hellish stores."

The first place they visited was Hot Topic, which actually had some pretty cool t-shirts that everyone liked. Riku was looking at a Gears of War shirt when he heard a crash on the other side of the store, followed by plenty of cussing and laughter. Walking over he watched as Axel and Zack humorously attempted to calm the store manager down after he found one of his racks holding their various jewelry, a choke collar in Zack's hands.

Carter walked into the store, apparently back from the shoe place right across the way, and smirked, standing back to enjoy the show.

"How could you take down the whole rack when all you had to do was slide it off!" The manager yelled, having a goth look going for him.

"Hey, it was putting up a fight." He said innocently, hands raised defensively. "Not like I completely did it on purpose."

"Well you better plan on picking all of this up." He said, glowering.

"Um, not really." Axel said, smirking as well. A loud yell followed the group as they ran out of the store, dodging through crowds in an attempt to remove themselves from the scene of the crime.

On the other end of the mall Kairi and Namine were being more civilized as they looked at some skirts on the many racks throughout the store. Aerith was looking at the dresses and Tifa was in the martial arts store over looking at a pair of leather gloves with Yuffie. "Oh look! Namine this is perfect for you!" Kairi pulled off a long white skirt that had a light blue in soft wave motions along the rim. Her blond sister looked at it and smiled. "It is a nice skirt."

"Go on and try it on." Her sister urged, pushing her to the dressing rooms. They both paused as they heard shouting and from inside the store they could see a crowd in one of the park settings as what looked like a manager was cussing a group of guys out. They shrugged it off and continued back into the store.

Tifa came and looked over the rail, shaking her head as she saw Axel's unique hairstyle darting through the crowd as the shouting grew louder. "Is that the Hot Topic manager?" She asked the ninja next to her.

Yuffie frowned slightly. "Looks like it, my guess is they haven't hit the sporting goods place yet." Both of them sighed as they walked back into the store before Tifa's cellphone started ringing and she answered it swiftly. "This is Tifa Lockheart." She greeted.

"Hey Tifa, it's Shade."

"Hi Shade! How's the party?" She could hear laughing kids in the background.

"Not bad, barbeque is going and everyone is enjoying themselves. Apparently nothing but good things has been going around so the adults are OK with me, don't think they were told the part that I killed the bastards that kidnapped Samantha."

"People do tend to leave that stuff out." Tifa agreed, giving a thumbs up as Namine walked out of the dressing room in the skirt Kairi had given her.

"The guys with you?"

"Riku, Sora, and Roxas are with Carter, Axel, and Zack somewhere else in the mall, I think the Hot Topic manager is chasing them down. Yuffie and Aerith are with me with your sisters in one of the clothing stores. Namine found a really cute skirt."

"No doubt Kairi picked it out for her."

"Probably. When do you think you'll be back?"

"Couple more hours, she's pretty bent on me staying for the entire thing, apparently there is a big surprise later on from her parents and she wants me to see it."

"The kid has gotten attached to you."

"Unfortunately so." There was shouting in the background and Shade sighed. "I gotta go, time to cut the cake. Later Tifa, make sure I don't have to pay any bail fees."

"You got it." The line disconnected.

XXXXXX

**11:00 - Get kicked out of Hot Topic. Avoid angry manager**

**11:20 - Check out Sports Authority. Find new baseball bats for agency**

**11:50 - Start complaining about being hungry.**

**12:00 - Call girls and tell them to meet at the food court.**

**12:15 - Stop by Game Stop.**

**12:15:25 - Cashier recognizes Axel. Quickly run out of store.**

**12: 20 - Food Court**

XXXXXX

By the time lunch came around the adults had held true to their words and kept them entertained while the girls shopped. Granted, getting kicked out of more than one store wasn't always the funnest thing, but it kept them occupied. Sora found out he really did like the guys Shade worked with, and could see her putting up with them.

"Pizza or burgers." Carter asked as they walked onto the large section that was the foodcourt. Smells of various kinds floated through their nostrils and they quickly found themselves ready to attack the poor vendors.

"Pizza." They said at once, then noticed Kairi and Namine waving them over. Axel and Zack went with them while Carter went to buy the food and they had to drag three tables together in order to sit together. Shopping bags sat against the wall where they were seated while Axel carefully put down the five new bats they had gotten for when they played baseball or hit the batting cages.

"What is Carter getting?" Aerith asked.

"Pizza." Roxas replied, slumping in his seat. "All that running can make you seriously hungry."

"It will do that to you." Namine giggled. "You guys having fun so far?" In return she got groans which made the twins laugh.

Quickly the food was served. Two half pepperoni half cheese medium pizzas with a large everything on it pizza. Everyone quickly dug in and talking started to fill the table.

"OK, so if you have any questions you might wanna ask now because Shade's patience is going to start running thin when it comes to that soon." Yuffie said wisely, and the others agreed.

"Alright, so what did you guys do before you changed careers?" Sora asked.

"Dude, we were one of the best gangs out there." Axel said, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head. "No one messed with us."

"One day my dad went and played the usual game of poker at one of the clubs. That was the night Shade's dad lost her in a bet and we met her the day after."

"All of us have done some form of robbery." Tifa said. "I think Yuffie was the one that pulled off the most robberies."

"Cloud was one of our best transportation experts. He took care of drugs and such." Yuffie said. "Not sure who was the number one murderer, unfortunately we've all had our fair share." The group was sobering up quickly.

"About a year after Shade came along that's when she got things to start changing. Instead of delivering drugs or whatever Cloud started to have a pretty popular, and normal, delivery service going on. Tifa took up training the students at the police and FBI academy. Zack and Sephiroth are squad leaders and they get called in when law enforcement needs back up, Sephiroth will travel around the country helping them out. Leon is still the weapon master, his job hasn't changed much. Now we're basically working along side law enforcement, which is pretty odd." Carter explained.

"So exactly how does Shade's job work?" Kairi asked.

"Like she said, she's a mercenary, and one of the best. The only other one that can also have that said for him is this guy, Vincent Valentine I think. She's worked with him a few times, something you rarely see. People from around the world will call in jobs for her, and she'll decide to take them on depending whether or not she thinks it's worth it. The chick has morals, and no one will be able to persuade her to ditch them." Axel said.

"Is that why this gang is after her?" Riku asked. "She refused a job?"

"Exactly why." Tifa said. "It was the normal body bag job. She did some scoping out of the target and turned down the job, ended up being the body guard for them instead."

"Why would she do that?" Roxas asked.

"Long story short, she didn't believe in the reasons why the leader of the gang wanted him dead, and his family helped solidify the fact."

The teens nodded and Tifa looked at Axel, giving him one of those shut-up-now-or-she'll-kill-you looks. "Finish up guys, we still have the other half of the mall to cover and that's a good four hour trek in itself." Yuffie said cheerfully. She was met with a wide variety of responses.

XXXXXX

Kairi hummed softly to herself as she sliced up the tomatoes for the hamburgers Shade was grilling, hearing Sora work on slicing the cheese on the counter behind her. Riku and Roxas were outside playing catch with Yoru while Namine was calmly sketching under a tree. Axel was talking with Shade while Cloud was just sitting back and observing. Tonight happened to be their nights off so their older sister had called them over for dinner, something Axel had no problem agreeing to as well as dragging Cloud to the gathering. Yesterday they had matched up all the passwords to the locks in the base and from the sound of it things were picking up at base. Kairi still wasn't entirely sure what they were hoping to accomplish, but she was sure that she didn't want the whole story. When Riku and Sora had come back from the questioning they were quiet, and when asked what happened they replied with a simple, 'She's good at her job.'

The barking intensified and Kairi looked out the window to see Riku stuck under Yoru, wagging her tail happily as his attempts to push her off were useless. She giggled at the scene, and saw speaking to her silver haired friend before he growled something back, so it was obvious the blond was teasing him. "Done." Sora said happily. "What now?"

She had just finished up her task as well. "Now we just leave it here on the counter until the meat is done." She replied. "Would you like something to drink?"

"She got any soda?" He asked, leaning over her shoulder as she stood in front of the opened fridge. "Holy cow, how many Vault's can she have?"

"She doesn't care for coffee, so she goes for sodas or flavored water."

"First person I've heard of that doesn't like coffee." He said, taking a couple Mt. Dews for him and the two wrestling outside. "Should we grab something for the rest of them?"

"Just for Namine, the other two already have beers and Shadow is working on her third Arizona Tea." The two of them walked outside, the sun in the horizon starting to turn red as it pushed seven that night. Riku had Roxas in a headlock while Axel was cheering the smaller blond on. Shade smirked as she watched them, opting for a seat next to Cloud as they sipped their drinks. "So how were deliveries today?"

"They were pretty scattered, I don't like long distance trips."

"So I take it Cid ordered some new parts."

"Yeah." He smirked. "And apparently when he demands extra parts, he doesn't mean just one box, more along the lines of seven or eight."

"He normally does." She agreed, rubbing her eyes. She was more than wiped out, she was exhausted. The late nights and work early in the morning were starting to catch up. Cloud glanced over and noticed this. "You didn't take that job in Twilight Town, did you?"

"The only real pain was the long drive, I had to leave at three this morning to get there, but it was a simple escort mission and I was home by seven before they got up." She motioned vaguely to the teens in front of them.

"You're falling into that overworking routine again." He commented, looking back in front of them.

"I always was a creature of habit." Was her reply, earning her a smirk. She got up and opened the grill, the smell of the burgers rising up to greet her. "Alright guys, food's ready." It only took a few minutes before everyone was scattered sitting on the grass in her front yard, easily striking up conversation with each other. They had no problem warming up to Axel, Cloud was still pretty quite but they didn't take it the wrong way.

Shadow had no clue how, but their conversation had some how gone from favorite home food to their more unique talents. This led to Axel explaining that he was one of the best fire artists out there, meaning that instead of useless explosions, he could actually make it look like something. "One time, Shade needed our help with a distraction so she could get into some files for a company, and I had the pleasure of blowing up the cars in the parking lot."

Cloud smirked. "It ended up looking like a skull, he took a picture from their roof after that."

"That is so cool!" Sora exclaimed. "What about you Cloud?"

"I'm a good driver." He said simply, taking another drink from the beer bottle.

"The dude can make sharp turns like nobodies business. If you didn't know him you'd think he was crazy behind the wheel." Axel laughed. "There was once a mission where we had to get away from this building before the place went haywire, and he drove this truck. When we were done the tires were rubbed raw, and you could literally see the streaks they left on the road for a good twenty feet. Never been that scared in my life." Shade smirked at this statement but didn't argue, it was definitely a more...interesting, car ride.

"Shade, how about you?"

"Career wise or something else?"

"Either one." Roxas said.

She thought for a moment before grinning. "I can fluently cuss someone out in eight different languages, nine if you count English." Axel was laughing, small tears streaming down his face while even Cloud was chuckling.

"How would you learn that?" Riku ask.

"I'm a mercenary, so I get a wide variety of clients." She replied simply. "Now career wise, I'm not entirely sure."

"Easy." Cloud stated. "One of the best weapon masters this place has."

"Definitely." Axel said, then looked at Kairi and Namine. "You're sister has wielded just about every weapon imaginable, knows the perfect weapon for each situation."

"Wow Shade. So you can cuss someone out in another language while gutting them with a katana." Sora said, earning laughs from the guys while Kairi rolled her eyes and Namine giggled.

Cloud glanced over at Shadow, and she smirked as they recalled that one time. Sora had actually summed the situation up perfectly. "Didn't you use Japanese that time?" He inquired.

"Yeah, wasn't really thinking. But when I'm that pissed off I do normally resort to Japanese." She grinned and shook her head. "Highly entertaining situation for everyone else though."

"Can't really blame us." Axel said.

"So what do you're guys' tattoos look like?" Roxas asked curiously. "Don't you get one if you join your gang?"

Axel's two teardrop tattoos spoke for themselves, but he pushed over his sleeveless shirt and they saw two circular and spiky weapons overlapping each other while flames engulfed them, the colors consisting mostly of red, silver, and the colors of the flames. "They're called chakrams, the only other weapon I bothered learning besides the sniper rifle."

Cloud just turned around and slid his shirt up slightly over his head, and his consisted of a detailed wolf that had a silver ring in its mouth. The colors were mostly black and grayish with silver for the ring. "It works for me." Was all he said as he slid his shirt back down and went back to his beer.

"Tifa has this martial arts symbol for hers and Yuffie's consists of a couple popular ninja weapons." Shade said after thinking for a moment. "Can't really recall Sephiroth's. Zack's is actually the first letters of his two mentors he grew up with. One is 'A' for Angeal, and the other is 'S' for Sephiroth. They're pretty close."

"Wow, wide variety." Sora said, finishing off his burger.

"Doesn't Aerith have her favorite flower as hers?" Axel asked, catching the teenagers off guard.

"She's part of you're guys' group?"

"Yeah, she's actually one of the nurses, but she splits her time between the agency and life in Radiant Garden."

"Wow." Namine said. "I never would have guessed."

"Most people wouldn't. If you saw some of the people on the streets in regular civilian clothes, the connection wouldn't normally be made." Shade pushed herself up and picked up some of the finished plates. "Be back." She walked into the house while the other two were pummeled with more questions, wondering if the well of curiosity would ever run dry.

Sliding the plates into the sink, she reached into the fridge to grab another drink for herself when her cellphone started ringing, playing Ten Thousand Fists by Disturbed which told her it was work calling. Guessing that Sephiroth had come up with an infiltration plan she answered it like normal. "Shade."

"Shade, it's Yuffie." The ninja was speaking quickly. "Listen, that prisoner we caught and got info out of suddenly came up with something new."

"What's wrong?" She could hear it in her voice.

"They have your address! They were waiting until a certain time to come for you and he started laughing saying it was today!"

She didn't have time to respond before she could hear gunshots outside. Dropping the phone she ran outside and saw Cloud and Axel already dragging them towards the doorway. Shoving the others in she closed the door and slid the locks in place, bringing up the security system and activating it quickly. "Guys, my bedroom, now." She said. "Cloud, with me." As soon as the group was in her room Axel went in with them to watch the window and add extra protection while Cloud went with her. She tossed him a shotgun which he caught and handed over to Axel while she pulled out and sheathed a couple daggers for her while giving a a rifle to Cloud, who nodded his thanks before heading towards the front of the house and placing himself in the kitchen, out of view from any windows while she she positioned herself at the end of the hallway, having a clear shot of the front door. She saw the cellphone on the ground but didn't get to it fast enough before the windows burst open.

Her front door blasted open and alarms went off as they attempted to file through, and she started firing with the guns level at her shoulders, hearing Axel take care of the ones in the back. She ducked to the side as she heard something come at her from behind, just contributing it to her senses as to how she heard it over the gunfire. She spun around and took the hilt of her nine millimeter to slam it into his neck, causing him to collapse as she fired at one in the hallway outside of her room before looking back, seeing Cloud doing one-on-one with one of the other intruders.

She ran forward and unsheathed a dagger, bypassing Cloud's opponent as she dragged it across the soft flesh of his neck before tackling one to the ground, the dagger sinking into his shoulder as she pushed herself into a handstand and landed, spinning around to rip the dagger out before turning back at the war zone that used to be her living room. She could hear Cloud yelling at Axel as she found three men quickly advancing on her.

Axel cursed as he covered both the window in Shadow's room and the hallway, Shade's sisters and their friends pressed into the corner with the guys standing in front of the girls. When one was able to get to him from behind he was shoved into the room and onto the ground, finding himself struggling with the person on top of him while another one climbed through the window. _It's like a never ending flood!_ He thought angrily, then noticed how the weight suddenly disappeared.

Riku pulled the man off of him and brought his fist back, giving him an uppercut punch which sent the man reeling while Axel grabbed his gun and fired at the one advancing on the group. "Good job." He gasped, picking himself up. A crash came to their attention before they saw Cloud get slammed into the door to the closet at the end of the hallway, ducking down as the fist hit the wood where his head had been previously. "Where's Shade?" Axel asked, getting the man from the side.

"Front room, four guys." He grunted, running back. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Axel silently agreed as he looked at the window. "Riku, you're taking lead."

Shadow dodged to the left before sending a roundhouse kick into the gut of one attacker and her fist into the jaw of another, jumping back as a knife came down before taking a throwing dagger that had embedded itself into her couch and returning the favor. Cloud appeared next to her and took down two with his gun while she handled the third one with a dagger. "They alright?" She asked, taking the back of her hand to wipe at the stream of blood at the corner of her eyes.

"He's getting them out of the house through the back."

"A fruitless attempt I assure you." They spun around and found themselves on the wrong end of multiple guns, the leader of the group grinning maliciously at them.

_Shit._

XXXXXX

"Let me go!" Kairi yelled, struggling furiously as two men each held one arm and dragged her to the front of the house in the destroyed living room. She immediately stopped and looked on with horror at the bodies that littered the floor, blood flooding out of some while others didn't have a drop on them. To the right Shade and Cloud stood, glaring at the wielders of the guns pointed at them and looking like hell. She glanced over at them and Kairi saw brief anger flash in her eyes before they dropped back to their emotionless gaze.

"What the hell are you doing here." Axel growled, his arms tied painfully behind his back.

"Taking care of business." The leader said. "Now shut up and let us work." He motioned and two approached Cloud with restraints as well, but they didn't get that far before Shadow had one on the ground after slamming a foot into the back of his knees and her arm around his neck, cutting off oxygen while Cloud had one spun around and on his knees as well as he held a dagger to his neck while his other hand held his head back.

"I wouldn't suggest that." Riku growled a curse as he felt something come across his arm, leaving a decent cut on it for blood to escape through. The knife slowly crept up to the side of his throat but he just glared at the ground. Cloud and Shadow looked at each other before their holds on the attackers disappeared and they were shoved completely to the ground. He held still as they tied his hands behind his back as well before being led to the rest of the group.

"You alright?" He asked quietly, and roughly, to Riku.

"Fine." He replied. Shadow stood with her feet planted apart and her arms crossed over her chest, looking at the leader. "What do you want."

"Boss said that he wanted the revenge to be executed to the right length to make up for the humiliation you put him through. That was the order."

"Not my fault he can't take rejection well." She replied.

"But it is your fault for saying no in the first place."

"He wanted me to kill a guy who had never had any contact with him at all." She snapped. "And he wanted it done in front of his five year old daughter. You're boss is sick and a wimp to feel that threatened just because a deal didn't go right."

"You should have just done the job, it was your choice to do the exact opposite."

"I refuse to work for monsters." She replied, voice devoid of any emotion.

"Is that so?" He smirked and motioned with his hand and Shadow found them advancing upon her. "Remember, you have lives depending on your cooperation." Shadow glanced at the group being held captive at the door and silently cursed. _This is going to hurt._

XXXXXX

She had been right, unfortunately, it had hurt like hell. She felt her body fall to the ground, but was to exhausted to get up all the way, and found herself only being able to push herself up on her knees. Her gut hurt from the multiple kicks she had received and there were more than plenty areas where blood was flowing over her, for sure one on her head where it had been slammed into the wall. Her legs felt weak beneath her and the room was slightly fazing out from the loss of blood. More than once she had heard screaming, and knew it wasn't her, so she guessed it was one of her sisters. The thought of them being forced to watch made her wince, and the leader took it as her hurting from the pain.

"Will someone get those twerps to shut up." He snapped, referring to the teenagers who were actively protesting.

Shadow looked over and saw Axel and Cloud held back by three men per, gagged and hands bound behind them. They didn't make any more in protest to the captivity, and she was thankful that they weren't stupid to endanger themselves like that. She gave the slightest of nods that they caught but others missed, letting them know she was holding up.

That was until a gunshot rang out and she cried out at pain flared through her left shoulder, the gunshot wound cleanly exiting the other side. This time they started to struggle as she barely held herself up, hand clutching her shoulder as she took deep and staggering breaths. "Start prepping the house." The leader ordered, handing the gun off to someone to have a dagger be placed in his palm.

He came over and knelt down next to her. "You know," He started, making sure the other two could hear him. "You were never part of their pathetic gang. You didn't have a place there. You're own father lost you in a bet, and it was to much work to just throw you in an orphanage, so they put up with you, but you never had that place, never earned it like the rest of them."

"Shut up." She gasped, working to stay conscious.

"It's true. And I was asked to make it clear that the truth conquers all." He pushed her shirt aside to reveal her dragon tattoo, the eyes of the dragon seeming to look directly at him. She struggled, but the pain was settling in and they were weak attempts. He shoved her to the ground and held her still by the neck, his thumb hooked through her shirt to hold it aside.

Axel's eyes widened as the dagger came down and cut through the tattoo, the flesh splitting apart to ruin the beautiful artwork that had been in its place. Tears streamed down Shadow's face silently as she winced, biting back a sob as she was roughly jerked up and the man whispered in her ear. Apparently whatever he had said hit a nerve because her shoulders were shaking now as she silently cried. He struggled attempting to form words with his mouth but being unable to do so. For a brief minute time seemed to slow and freeze around him, and all there was was Shadow slowly bringing her head up to look at him. He didn't need to hear her, the words almost seemed to fill the entire room even though in reality she didn't speak above a hoarse whisper.

"Mission before emotions." She looked at him with a gaze he had never seen on her before, one that pleaded, begging for him to understand.

And he did. But when he did, it terrified him.

A few of the men stayed in the house while the group was led outside. Kairi and Namine were crying, their sobs cut off from the cloth across their mouths. They were turned around to see the last of the gang walk out of the house, Shadow not with them, and one was carrying a gasoline tank held upside down so the liquid could fall freely from the container. They walked up to them and the leader grinned at the two agents while the gasoline finished being dumped. He took out a pack of matches from his pocket and the two realized what was happening.

Cloud and Axel started struggling, actually taking down a few of their captors. But it was to late as the flame was lit and fell to the ground on a small puddle of gasoline in the front yard. The flame quickly grew and flew up into the air, traveling through the front yard and to the front door of the house. _Please no. Please don't!_ Axel was mentally yelling the words, but they were useless. As soon as the flame hit the front door the explosion broke free, and the entire house was engulfed in flames in mere seconds. Cheers erupted from everyone as they watched the fire, thinking it was a beautiful picture. But Axel didn't think so. He knew what art looked like, this was just sick murder.

Cloud fell to his knees, staring blankly at the house as it burned brightly in the night. He didn't even dare look at the teenagers, because he knew whatever he saw would just put him over the edge. Axel stared numbly at the house, still trying to register the words. _She's dead. Shadow's dead._ It didn't click. Shadow didn't die, she was impossible to kill. But the scene before him said otherwise.

"Get them in the cars, boss wants to see them." The teenagers were put in one van while the two agents got into a separate one, the guards not bothering to go in with them as they slammed the doors shut and darkness engulfed them.

It wasn't until the car started to move that the first tears began to fall.


	13. The Reason They Fight

_I know what runs through your blood  
__You do this all in vain  
__Because of you  
__My mind is always racing_

_And it gets under my skin  
__To see you giving it  
__And now your trip begins  
__But it's all over for, it's all over_

_For you, for you  
__When you're on the edge and falling off  
__It's all over for you, for you  
__When you're on the edge and falling over  
__It's all over_

It was only fifteen minutes later that the normal three hour drive was made in an hour and fifty six minutes. The firefighters were still putting out the fire as Carter and Zack got out of the car, staring with dismay at the scene before them. The place was still smoldering and the once beautiful yard was now nothing but burnt grass and ash. From what they could see no body bags were around, but closer inspection showed that the workers still couldn't even get in the house to remove any if they were there.

"Hey!" Zack pulled one of the men over. "Any survivors?"

"We haven't had time to inspect the entire house yet." He replied. "Still working on finishing off the last of the flames. Do you know the person that lives here?"

"Yeah." He replied solemnly, looking back. The man nodded and went back to work, leaving the two to stare at the depressing scene before them. Carter seemed lost in thought until something pulled at his pant leg. Glancing down he could see a kid around five or six standing next to him. "Hey mister, do you work with the lady here?"

"Yeah, I do." He replied warily.

The kid held up a disk that was in a paper CD cover. "The guy recently here said to give this to the people she works with." He said. Carter hesitantly took the disk before the kid turned around and ran away from the scene, leaving the taller black man to study what was in his hands.

"What's that?"

He flipped it over and in rough writing, 'Watch me' was written on it. "I think it speaks for itself."

XXXXXX

"So, Miss Shade, the oh so famous mercenary, seems to have finally met those better than her. But has she accepted it?" The camera zoomed in on Shadow, who was staggering up and sent it a glare, more specifically the person who was filming.

"Shut up." She growled. A punch came her way, and she was able to duck to the right only to have someone pin her arms to her side as the fist instead connected with her stomach, knocking the air out of her and causing her to stumble slightly.

The camera momentarily turned to film the group who was forced to watch. The twins had tears streaming down their faces while the guys were putting up more of a physical fight in an attempt to get those holding them to let go. Axel and Cloud, however, were standing there glaring at the camera but looking worriedly at their friend, making no attempt to break free of their bonds.

A crash was heard and Shadow has successfully slammed one of the bodies into the coffee table, destroying it further before a knife came and cut through her lower back, earning a loud curse from her before she turned around and attempted to strike back, only to have one of the broken wooden pieces from the table picked up and connect with the back of her head, quickly sending her to the ground.

"So tell us Shadow, what's it like to have an ultimate weakness such as friends?"

"They are not a weakness." She mumbled, lightly holding her head as she blinked to clear her vision.

"Oh really, but isn't that what got you into the situation in the first place."

"No, your boss having a problem with someone saying 'no' to him is what started all of this shit." When she was getting impatient, that's when the cussing started to become more frequent.

"He would disagree."

"Of course he would, he doesn't have the guts to own up to the facts of life." In return for this comment another foot slammed onto her upper back, successfully putting her completely on the ground now coughing.

Some blood escaped from her mouth but she just gingerly wiped it off with the back of her hand. "I take that as a sign to continue." Shade pushed herself up onto her knees and smirked at the camera. "Hear that asshole? You don't have any guts, honor, or pride. No, I take that back, you have plenty of fake pride that allows for everyone around you to laugh at the pathetic joke your trying to pull off."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." The man growled, and another fist hit the side of her face.

She chuckled as she brought her head back. "Why not? You're not afraid to hurt them because you have orders to return them unharmed. More than likely my coworkers will have the brains to be more aware for any more of your pathetic attacks, and I highly doubt that I'm going to be walking away alive so what's a few more punches?" She slowly pushed herself up, and when she was standing she stumbled slightly before catching herself and looking at the camera.

Grinning she calmly gave it the middle finger. "I'll see you in hell asshole." Another piece of wood came around and slammed into her head, effectively knocking her out while the camera was cut off.

XXXXXX

The TV was filled with static as the occupants in the room numbly stared at it, some with teary eyes and others with cold expressions. A picture came back and they were then witnesses to the even of her tattoo being cut through, earning a curse from Larxene, and the house quickly being enveloped in a ball of fire. The hour long video finally covered its grand finishing act before the screen went black.

"Son of a bitch." Cid breathed, the cigarette in between his lips going limp some.

"I-Is she really...?" Yuffie was afraid to finish her question, and was praying for someone, anyone, to tell her no.

"It would be impossible for anyone to survive that explosion." Mr. Ogatami said matter-of-factly, but it was quiet, and somber.

"But she can't be dead!" Yuffie yelled, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. Tifa quickly came an enveloped the girl in a hug, quietly leading her out of the darkened room.

"Do we know where they went with the others?" Aerith asked.

"Probably hostages." Zack said with a growl. "Cloud and Axel were with them too." The simple observation was finally cemented when he said it. Carter had his head in his hands as he sat in front of the table. Sephiroth was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, staring pointedly at the ground. Zack, Aerith, Larxene, Cid, and Leon were scattered throughout the room. But everyone was facing the TV.

"Are we going to wait for them to contact us, or are we going to infiltrate their base first?" Leon calmly asked.

Mr. Ogatami let a rough sigh escape him. "We'll give them two days. If there is some way to get them out of there on their terms that will result in them being safe, I want to take it."

"And if that's not their intentions?" Cid asked roughly.

"Then we stick to the original plan. Shadow and Sephiroth already had it all laid out when she wanted to take care of them once and for all. We'll make adjustments to make it part rescue as well." Carter said, lifting his head from his hands.

"Sephiroth, you got anyone in mind to lead the attack?" Zack questioned. The silver haired man was silent, and after a minute he pushed himself off the wall and started towards the door.

"I'll have to think about it." No emotion crept past him as the door shut behind him, but Zack had known him for years, and he could see his mentor was stiffer than normal. Shade's death affected him too.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Aerith asked quietly.

"If they aren't physically damaged, they sure as hell are going to be emotionally." Cid replied, walking towards the door. "I'll be in the garage." The door slammed behind him.

XXXXXX

The darkness of the cells, the cold seeping through the outer walls, and the nights events all seemed to suffocate the group. Instead of stones there were solid white walls surrounding them, the only thing allowing them to see each other were the bars that made up the front and side wall to connect them together. Axel and Cloud had been put in the same prison, besides them were Sora, Roxas, and Riku, while the girls were in the third cell, on the farthest wall away from them too. They had been silent the entire time, and it seemed the tears had ceased falling only because there were no more to cry. Their depression scared there friends, and while they too mourned Shadow's death, they had been hit harder than anyone.

There were no windows in the room but the lights were on so they were illuminated and could see each other. Cloud had decided that it was well past two in the morning, when they had been led out of the vans he caught a glimpse of the sky and at the time it was past midnight, and being pretty good at judging time, at least two hours had past.

Not much was said between them except when they asked if anyone was hurt, everyone replied that they were fine, physically that was.

So it came as a slight shock when Kairi broke the silence, and her voice was hoarse from all the crying she had done. "Why was she sad?" The empty monotone made her friends wince as Axel questioned her.

"What do you mean?"

"When he cut through her tattoo. Those weren't tears of physical pain, but emotional." Namine explained, same cold tone.

Axel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The tattoo of each member symbolizes their acceptance into the gang. Having the art cut through like that is the most dishonorable rejection one could receive."

"Why?" He knew what they were referring to."

"In order to previously join our gang there were...tests, that you had to past. Four years after she joined she got her mark, this was after it changed. He was saying," A sigh escaped him, "That she never belonged." Axel's hands clenched into fist and the anger was evident on his features.

Kairi and Namine quietly resumed their crying, tears seeming to have suddenly made themselves present specifically for the news. Cloud was just staring at the ground and Axel was muttering profanities under his breath. "Why does this guy hate Shade?" Roxas asked. "Like, the whole story."

Axel smirked. "Because she was the first and best mercenary to turn him down. It hurt his pride and humiliated him in front of the hundreds of others that found out."

"And the job?" Sora asked.

Axel hesitated but Cloud answered immediately. "He wanted the wife and daughter of an enemy dead." He gave a small smile and shook his head.

"I thought it was the husband he wanted to kill." Riku said calmly.

"He wanted to see him suffer, and in order to that he targeted the two people who meant the most in his life." Axel explained. "She just said husband because it left people not asking as many questions, only because that's normally what you see."

"She was three years old, loves tea parties, and loves her pet cat Shuffles. Shade threw the offer back in his face and did the opposite."

"What was the opposite?" Namine quietly asked.

"She protected them."

**xxx Seven months ago xxx**

"_This is Shade. Leave your name, number, and a job description and I'll get back to you. Of course if I'm not interested don't expect a call back." _

"_Beep."_

"Yo Shade! It's Axel. Listen, get you're butt back here because we just broke out the beers and the new Halo game is calling to us! You got five minutes." The line disconnected and Axel turned to the rest of the group, giving a thumbs up and earning cheers in the process.

"Think she'll get it in time?" Larxene asked, taking a small drink from the bottle in front of her.

"No doubt about it, she's just finishing up a job and should be on her way back." Carter said. They were in the extremely large lounge, the room consisting of four TV sets each in a seperate corner with the various video game consoles hooked up to them, and couches making half circles around them with a coffee table separating them between the electronics.

"She's driving back on her motorcycle in this rain? You'd think after all these years she'd finally get smarter than that." Leon smirked.

"She loves it to much, and besides, for this specific one I guess the motorcycle actually played a role for once instead of just looks." Axel commented. Once the main doors opened a dripping Shadow came in. Her pants and black shirt that exposed a few inches of her stomach clung to her while the leather jacket she wore only came down to just above her bellybutton. Her hair was down and clung to her while her boots, instead of the army ones, were actually normal woman's strap boots. The tips of her hair were a newly died red, which immediately caught the others off guard. Many of the guys had to confirm it was the same Shade they worked with as they looked over the series of couches in the room, some even doing catcalls.

She just calmly raised a middle finger to them as she walked over and grabbed a beer, quickly downing half of it and closing her eyes, letting her shoulders relax some as she let out a deep breath. "So, um, how was work?" Zack asked.

"I had to play slut for the night just to get to the target." She murmured darkly. "How do you think it went?" Sarcasm to the fullest.

"Why'd you take it then?" Cloud quietly asked, observing her movements that seemed to radiate annoyance.

"Child molester." Was all she said, and brief satisfaction shined in her eyes while she finished off the beer. "I heard there was a Halo game going, is that still happening?"

"You got it." Axel said with a grin, and the mood seemed to lift some. The game was already running and remotes were passed around. "Already made your soldier."

"What's my name?"

"Death Stalker." She smacked him upside the head while everyone laughed. "Why the hell would you name me that."

"Because it describes you perfectly!" He said defensively, a smirk lingering on his lips.

"Idiot." She said. Her finger was just about to hit 'start' when an emotionless, "Shadow" cut through all the sound in the room.

A frustrated sigh escaped her as she stood and turned around, seeing Sephiroth walk towards her. He briefly skimmed her outfit and the slightest of frowns appeared on his face. "What is that?"

"Mission." She growled. He could see the flare in her eyes and nodded in understanding. He had heard about this job, she didn't like what she had to do, but when she heard about the target she was willing to make a few sacrifices.

"There is a job that I think you'll want to hear about." Letting out a curse she jumped over the couch and started walking past him.

"Fine, what is it."

He easily kept pace with her as they walked out into the abandoned hallways. "The leader of the Devil's Harvesters has a job for you." She paused briefly in her walk, cursed again, and picked it up again, taking an unopened beer from a man stumbling out of one of the game rooms. When he started protesting she glared, and he immediately stopped, apparently not drunk enough to challenge her.

_Already working on her second beer. Not good._ "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"After the way this night is turning out, definitely." She took another drink. "What's the job?"

"A double murder."

"Considering who this man is I'm questioning it. He send over information?" Sephiroth passed her a folder that she hadn't previously noticed. _Damn, I must be out of it._ She just nodded as she opened it up and started scanning the contents. "He gives me a name, age, and gender, but of a guy that I won't be killing. What the hell was he thinking."

"He wishes to speak to you personally about the mission." He replied. Sephiroth was the one that filtered most of the jobs that came in, when she had her weeks packed, which was fairly common most of the time.

Shadow found his number and took out her cellphone, starting to dial while she walked to her room. "Thanks." She said, before the door closed firmly behind her.

She let it ring a few times before someone finally answered. "Who's this."

"I got a call from your boss, double kill, put him on." She could hear him stiffen on the other line and smirked, sitting on her bed with her elbows resting on her knees, the cellphone held in place by her shoulder.

"Hello Miss Shade, you're reputation precedes you."

"How about my annoyance? You didn't give me the specific job only some details on it. Why."

"The man that is described currently disrupted one of the largest deals that me and a few others were making. He must learn there are consequences. I wish for a few of his close friends to be taken care of to make our point clear."

"Where can I find these friends?"

"They are currently staying with him. The address is in the folder. So are you taking the job?" She looked through the folder one more time and mentally sighed.

"I'll get back to you." She closed the phone before any objections could be made, staring at the picture of the rough man in the folder. It was a police photo, and the scale indicated that he was a solid six foot, muscular, and black man who looked like he had a grudge with the world. _Yeah, I can see you pissing someone off._

XXXXXX

The dampness from that night's rain still filled the area as she slowly brought her truck to a stop, looking at the house on the other side of the street. She was now dressed more appropriately. Black jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt that was underneath the same colored zip up hoody. Her hair was tied back and she was actually pretty comfortable. Besides, she just wanted pictures of the targets, that was all. Shade brought out a camera, more relaxed, and took a few pictures, scanning the area as she watched, noticing how the lights in the house were still on though it was pushing two in the morning.

When a large jeep pulled into the driveway she saw the prisoner stepped out of the car, and she recognized the look on his clothes as that of a construction worker. The door was shut behind him and she watched his body movements that showed he let out a sigh. _Rough day._

When the front door flew open she watched as a small three year old girl ran out of the house, dressed in a white nightgown with little unicorns on it. She was white, definitely not a biological daughter, but from the way he smiled and lifted her hi above his head which resulted in her screaming with delight she took it they were close.

A woman stood in the doorway in a blue bathrobe, arms crossed to defend against the cold but a small smile was on her face. She was white too, but when he came up to her and put a gentle kiss on her lips she immediately put the pieces together.

They were the targets.

His daughter and wife.

XXXXXX

When his phone started to play Riot by Three Days Grace, Shadow's personal ring tone, he knew who to expect on the other line. What he didn't expect was her mood.

"Hey Shadow." Carter greeted, taking a break from the weight bench. Yeah, it was pushing three that morning, but he was still awake after the party and decided to kill some time in the gym.

"He wants me to frickin' kill his daughter and wife!" She yelled, and he heard car horns blare behind her as she yelled some insults right back at them. "What the hell is he thinking?"

"Shadow. First you have to tell me who 'he' is." Carter replied.

"Devil's Harvesters leader wants me to take on this job. Gives me the address of the targets but won't say who he wants me to take out. So I go scope out the area and happened to get there right when the subject does. Turns out the two he wants dead is his frickin' _wife_ and _daughter._" She said. Another horn blared but she ignored it. "Why the hell did he think I would take the job when he wants me to kill a three year old?"

"No doubt his status." He said.

She grunted on the other end. "Good point. No way in hell I'm doing this job."

"So he's going to turn around and let someone else do it, though I doubt he'll be happy about you saying no. Either way they're going to end up dead."

He didn't know if it was the silence on the other end, or the suddenly calmer breathing, that let him know what she was planning. "Shadow..." He said carefully.

"This is going to be interesting." She said calmly, before the line disconnected.

XXXXXX

Least to say, his little delivery boy was more than freaked out when his boss told him to meet a mercenary, alone, so she could personally deliver a message to him to carry on to his superiors. Shade looked as cold as ever as she met him half way a few streets over from the local park. He was timid, and he was probably a couple years old than her. She always did find humor in scaring the crap out of people older than her.

"Miss Shade?" Wow, he got his voice not to quake.

"Name?"

"Jackson." She took a file and shoved it at him, his hands quickly taking it so she could bring hers back to cross over her chest.

"Listen up. Tell your boss that he can take his offer and shove it."

"He said that if you wanted more money he'd be willing to raise the payment." He replied quickly.

"No amount of money is going to make up for the inhuman act that he wants done. Tell me, do you know what he wants to hire my services for?"

"N-not really ma'am." Ah, the stuttering begins.

"Call me ma'am again and you'll be walking away with one less body part. He wants me to kill a wife and her three year old daughter. Like I said, there is no amount of money that is going to be worth it. So you're going to be a good boy, go back, and tell your boss that he needs to suck up any pride he may have, which I doubt is much, and maybe if you have guts of your own you'll actually go and get a life." She smirked. "Got it?"

"Are you sure?"

"I want you to say it word for word." She confirmed.

"Alright." She nodded and roughly patted his shoulder as she walked past him. "That's what I wanted to hear."

XXXXXX

It was nearing nightfall as Shade pulled into the driveway of the target's family. She was dressed in black cargo pants with the regular black tank top to go with it, her dog tags hidden from view as her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. The kind of outfit she wore when she knew things were going to get rough.

Stepping out she slung the backpack over her shoulder, confirmed it was his jeep in the driveway next to hers, then walked up to the door, the lights still shining in the living room. Giving three solid knocks she waited, glancing around the pitch black neighborhood that was only illuminated in brief patches from the lamp lights.

The door slowly opened up to reveal the wife and mother, Teresa. Shadow nodded in greeting at the somewhat tired looking woman. "Hello ma'am. Is your entire family currently with you?"

"May I ask who you are?"

_Good question. Bad timing._ "Long story short, I'm here to make sure you and your family get out of here safely."

"Is something wrong?" Shade pushed her way into the house. Not threateningly, just firmly, she didn't want to be out in the open if they decided to go sniper style.

"Is your husband here?"

"Josh." She called lightly, and Shade watched as the very large and very intimidating black man walked into the room. He looked at Shade and she dipped her head in greeting.

"May we help you?" He asked. His voice was deep, currently it just sounded tired but curious.

"I'm just going to get straight to the point." She said, crossing her arms and looking at the couple. "Some time within the last couple days apparently you did something to piss off one of the worlds top mob bosses, and now you've got dollar signs over your head."

"How do you know this?" His wife sounded worried as she asked this.

"Because I was the first one he came too. The job was paying seventy thousand. He wanted you," She motioned to the woman, "And your daughter dead." Her gasp was loud as her hand shot up to cover her mouth, and Josh protectively put an arm around her.

"There's no way you're hurting my family." He growled.

"You're right." She agreed. "In fact, I'm here to do the exact opposite." She brought her backpack around and pulled out one of the many contents inside, the one in her hand currently a file. "The only way you're going to be able to get out without him chasing you down is relocating. There's a town about a days drive from here. The house has already been picked, a job is waiting for you, and the school already as Cessillia's forms."

"How did you know her name?"

"Sir, I'm one of the top mercenaries out there, getting this information isn't that hard." She handed him the file just as they heard small feet coming from down the hall. All three of them turned to see the said daughter sleepily make her way towards them. "Mamma? Who's this?" In response her father picked her up and held her close.

"Why are you doing this?" Josh asked.

She smiled faintly and looked at his daughter. "I don't believe in bringing innocent people into other people's problems." That's when things seemed to slow down for Shade, her pulse quicked, and instincts took over.

She rushed forward, grabbing Cessillia and dropping to the ground with the others when the explosion went off. It wasn't directly next to the house, so they were just on the outskirts of it. Intense heat washed over her and she felt momentary pain rake across her back before it disappeared and only the sounds of the fire licking at fresh wood came through their ears. "Bedrooms. Go." She ordered, quickly bringing the girl up and letting Teresa quickly pick her up and do so without questioning them. Shade reached turned and slid out a dagger that was sheathed at the bottom of her leg.

To her surprise, Josh walked up next to her, holding a shotgun up against his shoulder and pointed towards the door. "How good are you at aiming?" She asked, not bothering to look away from the shaded figures that were approaching the home, pulling out a concealed handgun while the dagger stayed in her other hand.

"Top scores at the police academy."

"Works for me." She said, then started to cautiously make her way up to the flames. If she could keep the fight in the front yard and away from the house, better chance of the targets staying clear of the scene. When the first target came from the side to the front of her she didn't hesitate in firing a single shot, watching the body fall silently.

But this didn't please his partners much as she had to suddenly dock behind and lower herself behind a piece of in tact wall, the bullets tearing above her head. When a momentary lapse kicked in she spun around, fired a few shots, and launched forward, tackling one to the ground before suddenly being up and having her foot slam into the back of another members neck. She heard more heavier gunshots that obviously came from a shotgun, and pinpointed this as the reason that some men were dropping for no apparent reason.

An irritated grunt came from her as a knife came and made contact with her upper arm, leaving a burning sensation behind. The knife came back for a second round but then Josh was there, the man having been slammed into the ground with a large hand wrapped around his pathetically small throat. She nodded her thanks before looking around, noticing the lack of targets. "We get your family, then you leave for the airport. There will be a man waiting there for you, Carter, he'll have a change of clothes and all the information you'll need to settle in quickly."

"Thank you." He said. "I didn't know that by doing my job so many would be angered."

"Unfortunately that is what normally causes these situations." She muttered, running towards the back of the house. When she noticed the bedroom door kicked in she cursed and held back the larger man, bringing a finger softly to her lips while the second tightened her hold on her gun. He reluctantly stayed back as she walked towards the door, looking around before taking one of her daggers and throwing it, the sharp metal embedding itself into the soft carpet. A young girl's scream came from somewhere and gunfire pinpointed the dagger before she spun in from behind the door, annualized the situation in two seconds, then fired. Soft whimpering could be heard as the two bodies dropped, revealing Teresa holding her daughter tightly and whispering soft words of comfort.

Shade motioned for Carter, who quickly came in. "Th-th-thank you." Cessillia said nervously.

Shadow smiled at her and bent down. "You know what helps me when I'm scared?" The girl shook her head and she reached into her backpack. When her hand came back she pulled out a stuffed small white dog, the material that of which felt like soft fur when stroked. "I like to take one of my stuffed animals, hold on to him really tight, and take a nice long ride. How does that sound?"

"It sounds really good." She squeaked, taking the offered doll and hugging it to death. Shadow gave her one last reassuring smile before standing up and turning towards the door, her head slightly turned in the direction of Josh. "Take the jeep and go." Her voice was more toneless than what she had used with his daughter. "I'll wrap up everything here."

It took them just two minutes to have the necessities, cash, purse, and for the wife a certain family photo album. Shadow watched as they pulled out of the driveway, and little Cessillia's hand game up to wave at her through the window while the other clutched the stuffed animal. "She smirked slightly, but lifted her arm in a slight wave nevertheless. As soon as they were out of view she took out her cellphone and flipped it open, hitting speed dial.

"Carter, they're heading your way."

"All safe and sound?" He asked, trying to stay alive in the crowds of people who were at the airport that early in the morning.

"Yeah. Make sure the kid gets something to drink when they arrive. Maybe a slushi or smoothie."

"You do know they are going to be extremely pissed off at you, right?"

"Hasn't stopped me before, didn't stop me now, and sure as hell won't stop me in the future."

"Didn't think so."


	14. Hope

_I'll have you know  
__That' I've become..._

_Indestructible  
__Determination that is incorruptible  
__From the other side  
__A terror to behold  
__Annihilation will be unavoidable  
__Every broken enemy will know  
__That their opponent had to be invincible  
__Take a last look around while you're alive  
__I'm an indestructible Mast of War!_

It was night, maybe around eleven, and Shadow's house was now just a pile of burnt wood. The classic yellow tape was surrounding the area and not a soul could currently be seen. However, one doesn't have to be seen to actually be there. The air still smelled of burnt ashes as the silent figure worked their way towards the rubble. A red cape only slightly waved behind him, the edges tattered while the bottom half of his face was obscured and his deep raven hair fell around him while piercing red eyes scanned the area carefully.

His foot broke down a weak piece of wood as he stepped into the premises of the broken building, and after a minute he started making his way over to the weaponry room that Shade had always kept. Only one other time he had been here, and that was six years ago. She had just started her mercenary career and for some unknown reason he couldn't explain, he had agreed to her proposal of working together. Indeed, it had made things much easier than working alone, and he had grown to respect the younger girl. When news of her death reached him he had to confirm that it was true, having a hard time believing what he had been told.

The room was barely standing as he walked in, black clouds rising as he moved. He surveyed the area carefully before walking over to the closet, his gloved hand reaching out and lightly pushing on the door. It opened just a fraction of an inch, but he was immediately greeted by a low growl, followed by threatening barks. He pushed it open more and looked at the iron latch at the bottom of the floor. Reaching in and making sure it wasn't scalding hot, he proceeded to open it up, revealing the small dark pit at the bottom.

Yoru stood there, growling viciously at him, and the dog stood guard over the limp body behind it. "Yoru." He said quietly. The dog stopped momentarily, studying him with intent eyes before whining just a little and lying down next to the body, resting her head right next to Shadow's. Vincent knelt down and brushed back some of Shade's hair, her features unresponsive to the movement. His eyes adjusted quickly to the dark, and he saw the dried blood coating her body.

Shaking his head slightly he slid his arms underneath her and picked her up bridal style, Yoru following close to his heels as he walked. To his surprise Shade slowly opened her eyes, not really moving her head as she looked around before finding his face. "What are you doin' here?" She mumbled, head falling back slightly over his arm.

"You should be unconscious." A simple fact.

"But I'm not." Another fact.

"Which ones are fatal?"

"Gunshot, left shoulder. Deep cut across my back. Everything else is fine." Now it was getting hard to decipher what she was saying.

"Got it." She just closed her eyes and her body went limp once more. He just shook his head at the statement and continued to quickly move, leaving the smoldering remains behind them.

XXXXXX

Shade had never been more thankful for Yoru in her entire life. The dog wasn't stupid, she was obedient and knew when things were getting dangerous. So when Shade had told her to stay in the weaponry during the attack the dog had done so, staying silent and even refusing to whine as she heard the fighting just outside the door. When things died down, just around the time they were filling the place with gasoline, a faint, "Yoru." Reached the dog's ears and she jumped up, pawing at the doorknob a few times before it turned enough to open up the door, revealing a broken down Shade slowly dragging herself in.

The dog bent down and Shade wrapped her arms around her neck, letting the dog slowly start to drag her towards the closet. She didn't bother whining at her owners condition, settling on working her canine muscles to complete the task.

Shade could hear yelling outside, as she weakly reached up and opened up the closet, letting it swing in and reaching for the door on the ground. At this part Yoru let her lean on her while one arm weakly started to lift the hatch. When it was a couple inches off the ground the dog stuck her head under, a growl escaping her throat as she used the base of her neck to lift it, just enough to let Shade slide in and the dog drop in as well, the door slamming shut and settling them in darkness.

"That's a good girl." Shade breathed, lifting an arm to weakly pet her on the head. They listened for a couple more minutes before the sound of the explosion pierced their confinements and filled their ears. Yoru let out a low whine and lied down next to Shadow.

"Shit." She breathed again, before closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall. "Bastards are gonna pay." Then unconsciousness finally took over and blackness was the only thing that filled her senses.

XXXXXX

The first thing that she noticed was that she was on something soft, not like the solid ground that she had in the safety cell in her home. Or at least what used to had been her home. When Shade opened her eyes she was glad to see that it was dark, instead of being thrown into the world of light. The third and final thing that really caught her attention was the fact that her entire body was covered in bandages. An IV was in her arm to no doubt dull the pain that she hardly felt.

Ignoring the numbing feeling her body currently had she forced herself to sit up, even as a wince came across her features. "You shouldn't do that."

"I know sir." She replied respectively.

"You're wounds were lethal." Again, straight to the point. "Rest is needed."

"Rest is unavailable. Thank you for your help Mr. Valentine." From the second she met him she made sure to use formal titles, and had continued to do so ever since.

He just silently nodded. "They took your friends back to their base. You're agency has been scrambling to meet a deadline they set for themselves."

"Give them a couple of days to let demands be sent to ensure their safety, or they're going to follow up with the original plan." She set her legs over the side and closely examined her movements, mentally calculating what her limit was. "Yoru?" In return she heard barking coming from somewhere in the building, and she recognized it as Vincent's own miniature mansion located in the World that Never Was.

"Fine. Your home however, I apologize for what happened." But she just shook her head.

"It happens." She murmured, sliding off the bed and enjoying working her leg muscles out of their stiff state. "Sir, may I please borrow a few necessities?"

"Depends. Blades or bullets?" A smirk came across her lips.

"Goin' stealth this time."

XXXXXX

They hadn't told the base yet about Shadow's death yet, and had the problem under tight wraps. Besides the fact that the group of higher ups were more depressed lately, everyone continued on with what they normally did. Sephiroth and Zack were classified as one of these depressed agents, and were currently making their way deeper into the building.

A figure in simple black jeans and a black hoodie walked past them, the wire from their headphones in display as they moved. Zack grinned and waved but they just nodded their head in return as the kept going. "Why is it you insist on greeting every agent here?"

"Because it's nice. It's how a met a lot of my friends too." Zack grinned as they walked up to the control center. Apparently they were giving the Devil's Harvesters one more day before they moved in. Sephiroth still hadn't told them who would lead the attack, but that was to be expected. Zack almost thought the silver haired man was going to lead it himself, and honestly it wouldn't really surprise him. If it wasn't Shade it was Sephiroth, and if it wasn't Sephiroth, no one was allowed to carry out the plan, or else they would find themselves up against a very angry man when they got back. The one time he let someone else carry out the orders, he had regretted it, and made sure they knew.

"Hey guys." Tifa greeted, looking at the blueprints up on the monitor. "Ready for tomorrow?"

"Of course." Zack replied. "How's everyone doing?"

"As good as it's going to get." The girl sighed, running a hand through her hair. "The mood hasn't been exactly all happy and flower filled."

Sephiroth just thought over the plans in his head, then realized that he would have to make Yuffie a copy of the codes, no doubt when she was working her part she wouldn't remember them by heart. He nodded to the other two as he walked out of the room and towards the Operations room. Halfway there the figure in the hoodie walked past him, nodding in respect on their way. He didn't even spare them a glance as he took out a card and let the system scan the bar code before it opened up to reveal the large room on the other side.

Walking in he went over to the papers that were suppose to have the codes and started sifting through them, frowning slightly as he reached the end of the pile and turned up with no codes. After checking every other possible area he finally went over to the computers and brought up the file, finding them but still wondering where the papers went. Getting irritated he brought up surveillance and fast forward through the past couple hours he hadn't been in here.

When he hit the mark from twenty minutes ago he let it play normally, watching as a figure walked into the room. Recognizing the hooded person he had walked past twice now, he scowled. They continued over to the original pile of papers and sifted through, taking three and turning around as they scanned the contents. When they looked up, he saw they were looking straight at the camera. The lower half of their face was exposed enough to let him see the smirk come across it. Their hand came up and gave a mock salute to the camera, their lips moving slightly. His frown deepened as he rewound it and raised the volume. It took a few times before he was able to decipher what they said, but when he did, he could feel confusion swarming upon him, something he wasn't used too.

Their hands came and the hoodie moved slightly just enough to put the earphones back. Black hair was exposed slightly just the cloth moved back in to place before they started walking back towards the exit and disappeared from view.

_She's supposed to be dead._ He thought logically. But only very few called him by his first name, and he was pretty sure there was only one female who said it straight to his face.

"_Thanks Sephiroth." _

_Then again, her and death seemed more like coworkers. _

XXXXXX

"Another reason, another cause for me to fight. Another fuse uncovered. Now, for me to light." Shade was more like speaking the words than singing them as she polished the dagger in her hands, looking at the elegant designs that flowed throughout the weapon. She was sitting in one of the many old, worn out rooms in Vincent's home that he rarely spent time in, where he had offered for her to house while she took care of some business.

She couldn't really describe her mood. Angered that her friends were in danger, but that only made up a very small part. The rest was a happy, one of those very terrifying versions where people on the other end of it don't know how they were perfectly fine and then milliseconds later the knife is embedded into their flesh. She was also very calm about the matter before her. The plan was solid, the bodies would be plenty, pain would be abundant, and they would be safe. Win win for everyone.

A malicious grin came across her features before it disappeared again, and the only thing she comprehended was the smooth motions of the cloth over the blade. "That isn't a very cheerful song." His voice was cold and emotionless, but she ignored the tone and replied.

"But it's a truthful song." She replied. "And a good one at that." The blade glinted elegantly in her hands as she turned it to various angles to observe the weapon. She mentally sighed. "Mr. Valentine, is it possible you have any jobs at the moment?"

By his silence he took this as a no. "I've got twenty thousand at the moment, but the other ten thousand would be after I wrap up a few problems incident related. Would you be interested?" She glanced over her shoulder to see him nod once. "I already have everything laid out, I just require someone to escort my sisters and their friends out of the premises while I take care of the rest of the area."

"And how do you plan on doing this?" He inquired.

The grin was back as she lifted one of the guns displayed on the large bed. "With lots and lots of bullets."

XXXXXX

He was more than happy. That sorry excuse for a mercenary was dead, her friends were captured and sitting in his prison, and those two agency friends of hers were going to give them all the information they needed to take down the used-to-be gang. It was all going according to plan, and Xemnas couldn't be more happier.

Leader of Devil's Harvesters, he had hundreds of people fearing him and his peons, those he commanded. If he ordered them to take their own life they would, or course he never would, but there were times when the option was appealing.

And this was one of those times. "What do you mean, 'you can't'." He demanded firmly.

"Sir, they are being more stubborn than we thought. The blond one is incredibly strong and the redhead, well..."

"Well what?"

"He has this unique skill of making some of our men incredibly angry in just a few seconds. He's got a way with words."

"You're telling me you can't take them to the interrogation rooms just because one scares them with looks and the other talks badly to them."

The man nodded slowly and Xemnas motioned to Saix to get him out of there as he stood up, wishing to visit the prisoners for himself. Their base was one of the largest places located in this depressing city, located over one of the largest and darkest pits on the outskirts of the city. The location was perfect, it made a point.

He made his way to the white dungeons that were located towards the bottom of the building as he walked through clean halls. It only took a few minutes for him to reach his destination, and when he did, he was met with an unwelcoming sight.

"Aw, come on man, can't take a good joke?" Axel said tauntingly as one of his men were being held back from attempting to strangle the redhead.

"Enough." Xemnas ordered, walking into the place. "Leave us." The men reluctantly left while Saix came in to walk next to him towards the cells.

"Hey! A new play toy!" Axel said, grinning. Xemnas looked to see the blond was standing against the back wall while studying the two men. The silver hair man could see him putting up a fight.

"You are the two who befriended the now deceased mercenary Shade, am I correct?" He made sure to bring up the person who was the reason as to why they were there.

Cloud frowned slightly. "Correct." He replied.

"I wish to speak with you in private. There are matters that need to be discussed concerning your home base."

"Why would we bother talking to you about that place?" Axel said with a smirk. "You seriously don't believe we'd do that of our own free will."

"If it involves the safety of other, yes." A scream came from the end of the cell and they turned to see Saix there, holding Namine by a fist full of hair. The girl whimpered and Kairi went up to help her, only to have a gun pointed in her direction to keep her in place.

"Let her go." Axel growled, recalling Shadow's words. _Mission before emotions._ The mission was to keep the teenagers alive, his emotions said to kill the bastard then and there. "Leave them out of this."

"Give us what we want, then we will let them continue to be unharmed." Axel glanced back at Cloud, who gave the slightest of nods.

"Deal."

XXXXXX

Axel was more than pissed off at the moment. He was currently being restrained to a chair while Cloud was back in the cells with the others. He was glad that they did it one at a time, Cloud would more than likely get annoyed with him quickly, but he really didn't like this whole, 'be a good boy' thing he had to do.

But that all changed with a single box.

Some person, the delivery boy, had walked in and handed a package to Xemnas, saying that it was urgent. Saix had looked indifferent at it as he opened the box, revealing, to their surprise, a recorder. Thankfully he hadn't bothered to leave the room when he hit the play button to hear what was on it.

Whimpering emanated from the small device as they listened. _"Be a good boy and tell me where they are."_ A mocking voice spoke. Axel's eyes widened and he made sure to clench his fist behind him so they didn't shake to badly.

"_I can't tell you! They'd kill me in seconds!"_

"_Don't worry, at least when I kill you for not telling me anything I'll make it much more painful than your pathetic excuse for a leader."_

"_I can't do that!"_ He yelled. This was followed by a scream, one that lasted a solid couple of seconds before dying off into whimpering again.

"Is that, Vexen?" Saix said quietly as they listened.

"_Tell me where they are."_

"_OK! They're located in the dungeons on the east side of the lower building. Please! Just don't use the hammer!"_

"_There you go." _However it was followed by a sickening snapping sound, resulting in more screaming. _"If you want to continue to have the use of your other four fingers I suggest you tell me what harm has been done to them."_

"_None! I swear it! They're scheduled to be taken into interrogation but that's it!"_

"_Are they going to be released safely?"_ Silence was the answer for this question. Apparently something hurtful had been waved in front of Vexen's face because he quickly made up for it.

"_No! The plan was to get your leader to submit his resources to us for the safety of your friends!" _Another snap._ "But it was just to make sure they cooperated! We were going to kill them off afterwords."_

"_Good boy. Wrong answer_."Axel winced as a long and painful scream came from the speakers.

"_No! Not the hedge clippers. Please!" _More screaming, then sudden silence. The room dropped into the echoing abyss and no one said anything.

Xemnas slowly turned towards Saix, his glare tempting the man to wince. "Was that Shade interrogating Vexen?" He asked slowly, quietly.

In return he got laughing, but not from him. Instead, it was Axel. "What's so funny." Saix demanded.

"You guys are so screwed!" He laughed even harder, for once since a few days ago actually feeling good about the situation.


	15. Infiltration and Extermination

_Took from me all that I had  
__With my soul and spirit dead  
__Killing everything in me  
__What is one use to be free_

_Now to drive away the pain  
__I'll destroy all I disdain  
__I'll become what I despise  
__Living someone elses life_

_(Don't ever back down)_

There were two points of entrances that they were going to use. The front entrance was going to be guarded while a back entrance and the garage where deliveries were made were to be their infiltration points. As predicted, Sephiroth was going to lead one of the teams, and he entrusted the back entrance to Zack. He thought it was cool, but at the same time knew it was more of a because the situation required it and there were no other options. "Are the ground teams ready?" Tifa was going to be their information feed from base.

"This is Zack. Yeah, we're ready."

"Sephiroth. Everything is in position."

The bright lights that illuminated the streets were minimal to the brightly lit up home of the Devil's Harvesters. Instead of front doors they could see the ramp that went from the street and led up to the first platform, where a few of their men were standing around either smoking, drinking, or showing off their newest guns. Zack studied the area from one of the rooftops off to the side of the building, currently playing backup sniper. Yuffie was somewhere in the streets close to the entrance, and would be going in with another team soon after the first distraction was employed. That first distraction of course, would come from Cid. He was currently getting ready to blow the fuse that would cut their power just long enough for her to get near the prisoner cells. While she was rescuing them Sephiroth and his guys would be heading for the leader. Zack would move in half way through the escape and be the escorts for them while business was wrapped up.

"Yo. This is Cid, give the word and I'll be ready for ya." Zack looked at the small hand held device in his hand and saw the camera that guarded the front entrance.

"Be ready in two minutes." Sephiroth's cool voice commanded. "Then we move in."

"Got it." Zack could literally see him chewing on the cigarette in his mouth at the moment, just waiting to get this show on the road.

"Ok. Cut the power in five. Four. Three-"

"What the hell!" Everyone was caught off guard as the power suddenly went out, and not just the opposing gangs base, but the surrounding streetlights as well, leaving the pitch black night to envelope the area.

"Cid, I didn't give the signal." Sephiroth growled into his speaker, his eyes quickly adjusting to the night.

"Obviously you didn't Commander. Someone else killed the power."

"Alright teams. Move in. Be wary though, we've got a third party in the vicinity." Zack looked at the camera again, it's night vision kicking in. The men on the bay were looking around in confusion at the lack of light. "Woah. Sephiroth, take a look at the front entrance video feed."

The team Commander did so and he frowned. _It's just a couple of drunks..._ However, he was proved wrong when something went flying through the air, and the man closest to the entrance went down with a long shaft sticking out of him. "Sephiroth. I think that's an _arrow._" Zack breath, watching as the other five men quickly went down in the dark like the others.

A figure dropped down from one of the pillars, a bow in one hand while the quiver of arrows was on their back. Zack's breath caught in his throat as he saw the faint outline of long black hair and a body clothed in something similar to cargo Capri's and a t-shirt, the more distinguishing features were the guns and knives that coated their body. "Seph." He said quietly onto the private channel that they had been speaking on. "Is that...Shade?"

The figure looked at the camera and did a two fingered salute before turning and moving deeper into the base. "That's her."

XXXXXX

Sora's head whipped up when the lights went from full blast to absolutely dead, plunging them into the darkness. "You guys alright?" Axel immediately asked.

He attempted to look around but could barely see the hand in front of his face. Something landed on his shoulder and he could recognize it as Riku's own hand, giving him some assurance. "Yeah, we're good. Kairi? Namine?"

"We're fine." Kairi said, her voice not so cold. "The lights just went out." Axel hadn't told them about his sister, for fear of possibly being wrong and getting their hopes up for nothing. However, he did tell Cloud about the message and what he thought. Cloud had simply nodded before falling into silent thought.

Yelling could be heard in the distance but the group just ignored it. Kairi and Namine held hands just to silently make sure that the other was there, straining to hear the sounds around them. When the doors suddenly slammed in and flashlights roamed over them, Sora could see the distinct looks of a few of the members of their current captors, and frowned slightly, a feature he never used much.

"Which ones did he want for hostage?" A rough voice asked.

"The girls, said she would be more cautious." Roxas glanced over at Sora in the darkness. "She?" He didn't bother keeping his voice low.

Sora just shrugged but when the door to the gates opened up and the shrieks of the teenage girls reached their ears, all of them were up and once again attacking the bars. "Leave them alone." Axel growled.

"No. Boss needed their bodies for leverage."

Axel paused. "You'll need them alive."

"He said to just shoot them if you guys start pushing it."

"Easy Xigbar." Lexaeus said, having a firm hold on a whimpering Kairi. "He also said as a last resort."

Kairi was attempting to get away, refusing to give them an easy catch even as his fingers continued to dig into her arm. "Let us go!"

"No." Was his toneless answer. They just started moving before a voice interrupted them. Problem was it was almost like a disembodied, and belonged to none of them.

"_Did they ask your permission?"_ Namine froze in her struggles as well. Faintly remembering the line.

**She quickly glanced up, heart pounding in her chest, and saw that she was standing behind Shadow, a very pissed off Shadow to stand corrected. How did she know this? She didn't show any emotion, while her eyes looked ready to murder someone.**

**She walked over to the one that threatened to kiss her and put a heavy boot on his stomach causing him to grimace and moan. "Did she give you permission." When no answer came she pressed down harder. "Did she?"**

"_Did they?"_

Xigbar scoffed. "Don't need permission to kill someone. Now show yourself."

"_You're right, you don't need someone's permission."_ The airy laugh seemed to resonate throughout the room. When a sound like something falling came from the entrance they had come from, both had their guns up, still holding onto the girls, and fired at the direction, not stopping until their clips are empty.

"They're definitely dead now." Lexaeus said with a smirk.

"_Really?"_ They spun to the right, at the cells across from the group.

"Enough. Show yourself." Xigbar demanded, then growled a curse as the flashlight he had once again flipped on, only to hear the two gunshots that penetrated both their sources of lighting, once again throwing them into darkness.

Sora didn't realize he was holding his breath as he heard both girls shriek before two solid thumps resounded throughout the room. Kairi and Namine found each other in the darkness and grabbed each other in choking holds as they went up against the guy's cells, blindly looking around.

"Who's there?" Axel demanded.

"Wow Axel, looks like confinement hasn't really damped your temper." The lights that were built into ceiling blinked on and the redhead dully noted that the ones in the rooms next over didn't come on.

There, standing against the cell doors, was Shade. Standing in complete calm with her arms cross, each one holding the daggers that had light traces of blood on them, the ones that no doubt caused the slit throats to the burly men currently wore. Her hair looked like it had been roughly cut, getting rid of the red ends before being pulled into a low ponytail. Cargo Capri's and a t-shirt were almost completely covered by the weapons she had covering her body. She looked at him and Cloud, a small smirk on her face, before facing her sisters, and that smirk turned into a small smile.

"Hey you two."

"Y-you're supposed to b-be d-dead." Namine stuttered, staring wide eyed at the person in front of her.

Shadow cocked her head to the side and looked at them, before widely spreading her arms. "Really? Last time I checked, just a few scratches." Kairi finally came out of the shock and playfully frowned at her sister.

"That's rude! Let us think you died in a fire!" She walked up and smacked her sisters arm, not missing the flinch that came with it.

"Hey, just because I'm not dead don't mean that bullet hole isn't there." She said, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Yeah, I know, I owe you guys a story later." Namine came up and gave her a soft hug before Shade reached down and grabbed the keys off the dead bodies, her daggers now sheathed as she went up and unlocked the caged doors.

"Mr. Valentine. Yuffie's team should be about half way in, meet up with them for extra support." Sora turned and saw the seemingly dark aurora man walked through the door, nodding silently.

Roxas turned to the eldest sister "Wait, you're not coming?"

"I'll be there in a few, got a few loose ends to tie up." She nodded in Vincent's direction. "He'll keep you guys safe." Namine and Kairi immediately opened their mouths to protest but Shadow gave them a look, and immediately shut them.

"Just don't die." Kairi said firmly.

"Got it. Now move." Axel and Cloud hung back a few seconds longer as the teenagers were led out of the room. It was silent a few seconds.

"Did you honestly expect us to let you have all the fun?" Shadow smirked at Axel's comment, reached to her back and taking the shotgun that was holstered there while handing Cloud a set of daggers.

"You can have Saix, heard you two didn't get along that well."

"And you heard correctly." She nodded and turned to the opposite door in the room. "After this beers are on me."

"Hell yeah they are." Axel said with mock seriousness, the mood immediately lightening up at the simple comment.

XXXXXX

Yuffie ran down the memorized hallway at top speed, hearing the ragged breaths of Reno and Carter behind her. She was small and lithe, the perfect combination for a runner, and a thief. Her hair was held out of her face by her black bandanna and for once she wasn't chatting about the randomness of the world, but that didn't mean her mind was completely blank as well.

_Why would Commander Sephiroth and Commander Zack be so troubled before this began? I mean sure, someone else tripped the lights a few seconds ahead of schedule, doesn't mean that the whole plan is spiraling out of control. Maybe just a couple of drug dealers that chose the same night to break in, couple more people to take out. Blah blah blah, don't see why they are worried about having to put in a little extra work. Of course I wouldn't mind some free time to just sleep, seriously, they need to loosen up some. I'm sure Shade wouldn't like them moping around like they have been, it's been making my job of annoying them into cheerfulness harder than normal. _Yuffie caught herself ranting and quickly cut herself off.

"Yuffie, slow down." Reno gasped. "We're supposed to stay together."

"As impossible as it seems, he has a point." Carter said.

She sighed and slowed down some, allowing them to run with her. "Come on guys, we're almost there-" Right as she made the sharp right turn she came to a screeching stop and had the Shuriken already in her hands. "Creepy guy!" She yelped, already attacking.

He easily dodged her blows as he stepped to the side to avoid them before Carter came up and stopped her from bringing it down again. "Yuffie. He's not a bad guy." She paused for a moment when she saw Kairi and the others appear behind him.

"He's kidnapping them!" This earned her a couple chuckles from the teenagers and an eye roll from Carter.

"Hey, Mr. Creepy was a pretty good name." Reno commented, coming up next to Carter. "Hey twerps. Where's Axel And Cloud?"

"They went with Shade." Kairi replied happily. The trio froze at the comment, momentarily not knowing what to think.

"PTSD?" Carter wondered quietly to the others.

"No." Vincent finally said. "She was able to get into a secure part of the house before the explosion. I found her and she's been staying at my home. She's currently pursuing Xemnas before planning to meet up with us outside."

Yuffie studied him for a moment. "OK, I believe Mr. Creepy." The two men looked at her incredulously while Vincent just nodded.

"I was told to meet you guys halfway here and continue to escort them outside to an abandoned shop we managed to locate." He continued.

"Wait, since when do you take orders?" Reno asked. "Aren't you like a mercenary, like, way up there with Shade?"

"She's paying." Was all he said, motioning for the teenagers to follow him. Yuffie quickly went up next to him, the dim lighting that had come back on barely illuminating her mouth as it quickly moved, talking to Vincint. Carter brought up the rear of the group while Reno was center, quickly assessing all of them to make sure they didn't have any fatal wounds. "Think we can trust him?" He asked, falling back to talk to Carter.

"Shade respects him. Trust him with their lives. Yeah, we can." The taller man said.

"Dude, are we sure she's alive. I mean-"

"She's alive. Nothing else explains it."

XXXXXX

Zack dodged to the left and fired a single shot from the rifle he had resting in his arms, not watching as the body dropped before continuing his journey down the hall. He had sent the rest of the team as back up to reinforce the quarters where the agents had been staying to take care of them and continued to go down to meet up with Sephiroth who was pursuing Xemnas. If he was on time, then when he made this turn into the hallway-

He stopped short just after he made the turn, took a couple more steps, and fell into step next to the Commander as they made their way through one of the platforms that had the city exposed to the right while it was a solid wall on the left, wrapping left and through a corner. "Seen anyone?" He asked.

"Haven't seen anyone else except our team and these dirt bags." Zack replied, checking one of the exits to make sure it was empty before moving on. "You?"

"No. However, Carter called in saying that they found the teenagers, and that Vincent Valentine was escorting them out of the premises per Shade's orders."

"Whoa, Vincent? Why is he helping her out?"

"He also said that she paid him."

"That sounds a lot more believable." The raven haired man replied, "How much longer do we got until we hit the main platform where he's supposed to be?"

"Another five minutes if we keep this pace." They were silent for a few moments before Zack spoke up again.

"Think we'll run into her?"

"I would expect so." Sephiroth replied, and Zack saw the slightest of smirks on his face. "She prefers to take care of problems herself. I would believe she considers Xemnas a problem."

Zack chuckled. "Good point."

XXXXXX

_Dear Kairi and Namine,_

_Tonight you two will be turning eleven years old, something that I'm glad you two have been able to accomplish, and hopefully I'll be able to write you letters for the many more birthdays to come. When I say hopefully, I'm not referring to the probability that you two would die, in fact, much to my dismay, I refer to myself._

_A lot has changed in the past five years, and any innocence I once held has no doubt been ban from my description. I can't tell you how many times I have wished to relive the days when we would play tag in the forest or on the playground at the park. I remember the tackles quite clearly, and I also remember how I wouldn't trade those moments for anything in the world. You two accepted me like a real sister immediately, something that children from the orphanage rarely see, and a gift that I am eternally grateful for. _

_My new family, yes, I can refer to them as family now, (though I would never refer to them as that in their faces) have been very accepting and helping me harden up to the harsh surroundings that this place contains. I've learned many new things. Fighting has a wide variety of tactics to choose from, with hand-to-hand combat and weapons such as guns and knives, I am slowly mastering all of these things. _

_My world is slowly turning to that of one that matches my title. The life of a mercenary isn't nice, and I'm quickly realizing that it isn't one to be fond of. A few weeks ago I did my first mission, and I also made the promise that I would never let you know about this side of my life. If you did I can honestly say your reaction would scare me. I know that I have no right to still ask for the compassion that you guys have given willingly throughout the years when I have done nothing but given you half-truths. Yes, I'm being selfish, and hopefully at some point in my life I will just suck it up and give you guys the truth that you deserve._

_I can already hear your protests now. How you would never turn your backs on me because of the things I've done. How you will always stick by my side. How do I know this? You've told me these things before, hundreds of times in the many letters throughout the years. But I'm still only human, and unlike innocence, fear is still something that can describe me at moments when I'm at gunpoint. How sad, how I can go through with taking someone's life but not telling my own sisters what I do in my daily lives. _

_A few years from now hopefully I will suck it up and give you this letter, taking the blows that would no doubt come with them. Even though I'm not blood related and nothing close to similar to you guys, __please know that I am proud of you and am honored to call you sisters. I will talk to you soon, and it will be the kind of letter that I always send. One filled with honest compliments and not-so-honest half-lies to barely quench your curiosity. Take care, be safe, and continue to to use your gift of making others around you feel like they belong. _

_Your sister,_

_-Shadow_

Shadow, age fifteen, sighed as she neatly folded up the letter, sliding it into the envelope and sealing it. She flipped it over and neatly wrote the name of her two sisters across it before letting the paper rest on the desk in front of her. A sigh escaped her as she took it and put the letter inside of one of the drawers of the desk, one that had a solid lock and only three other letters similar to this one that she had written throughout the years explaining the situation to them, but would never have the chance to be sent.


	16. Infiltration and Extermination Part 2

_Don't ever back down  
__Don't ever turn around  
__My end has come  
__So now I come for you_

_Now obsession rules my mind  
__This commotion makes me blind  
__Searching out who ever runs  
__Or has stolen away my life_

"Don't move." The quivering words had no effect on Shade as she instead quickly turned and fired a quick shot from her handgun, taking the rifle that had been in the man's hands before the body finished falling to the floor and tossing it to Cloud, who caught it easily and turned to survey the platform they had just come across. Axel was starting to get annoyed that he didn't have neither his rifle or chakrams at his disposal but made use of the daggers while they continued on, hoping to find something similar to his beloved gun.

When they started coming up to the next room Shadow went first, into a large almost cemetery-like setting. There were a couple rows of what looked like holographic tombstones that were separated by the path in between them leading to the next exit. The mood in this room was more darkened due to the more deeper colors that made up the decor. "Geesh. Who died?" Axel said, walking into the room.

"No one." She smirked, looking at the writing. "These mark the moments when Xemnas' had his most disappointing moments in his organization. When each one came to an end and he considered the act redeemed he would have his loyal dog, Saix, make a new stone for it."

They were quiet. "Wow, someone is a drama queen." This earned him a chuckle from the other two who just nodded in agreement.

When they heard footsteps from behind all three spun around and had their weapons ready, watching as the apposing pair did the same, the sound of metal being handles heard by all. It was quiet again as they took in the pair of Sephiroth and Zack, standing there with wide eyes, at least, Zack was. Sephiroth was his normal calm and collected self.

"So you really didn't die." He breathed, staring at her in disbelief.

A small smirk appeared on her face. "Apparently not. Unless you plan on changing that." She nodded to his gun that was still leveled with her. He quickly caught on and gave a nervous chuckle, lowering the weapon.

At the moment Zack seemed to recall something. "Right, Axel, ran into your brother and he told me to get these to you." He pulled out his chakrams that had been hanging from their handles on his back and passed them over. "Those things are heavier than they look."

Axel grinned in response and handed the daggers back to Shadow, while smoothly spinning the weapons. "Thanks man."

"Good to see you are well." Sephiroth nodded at the other two then looked at Shadow. "You stole my codes."

"And utilized them well." She replied, resting her gun on her shoulder casually. "How have you been Commander Sephiroth." Her use of his title didn't escaped him, he figured she must have been apologizing in some way.

"Fine, however I had to replace one of the team leaders, that didn't sit well with me." Aka: Don't do that again.

Shade nodded in acknowledgment of the statement. "If both our sources are correct then Xemnas should be up ahead." She turned to Axel and Cloud. "You two start heading back and meet up with the others, make sure they got out safely."

"And leave that psychopath up to you? Not gonna happen." Axel said.

"We will check to see if he has allies. If not, the two of us will retreat and regroup at the entrance." Cloud said calmly. Axel was about to protest but a slap in the back of the head by Cloud, who hadn't looked away from Shade, caused him to mutter in annoyance instead.

"Sounds good." She brought her gun back down. "Let's go."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." They looked up ahead to see Saix standing there, with some huge weapon in his hands. At least as long as himself, it was almost like a huge double-sided ax that was exceptionally wider and thicker than most normal ones. He looked with disdain at Shadow. "You never seem to cease bringing problems into other peoples lives."

"I owe your boss a little favor in return for the parting gift he left me." she replied calmly, and Axel remembered how her tattoo had been cut through, holding back a wince. "So you can either step aside and let me continue on or I'll just kill you ahead of schedule."

"No no no." Axel said, stepping up with a grin. "I need to have a little talk with are angry friend here." Saix let a low growl come from him.

"Watch your tongue insect."

"That's more than likely not going to happen." He replied, then spoke to those behind him. "I'll take care of tough guy here, you guys go on up ahead." Cloud stepped up next to him and gave a small nod to the redhead, who seemed to accept the partner.

"Got it." Shadow said, just as Saix let out a roar and charged them. She could see he seemed more intimidating when he was angered, but also more blind to strategies. So while he was engaged with the other two she ran up with the Team Commanders up behind him and through the exit.

"Worst case scenario, they walk away with a couple broken bones." Zack said, chuckling slightly at the thought of Axel not being able to play Halo correctly for a couple weeks.

"Tifa wouldn't be pleased with either of them." Shadow said in agreement, quickly taking up to the wide spiral steps. "Zack, if it is clear head back."

He frowned slightly, but then looked over at Sephiroth and decided he could take of her for a little bit, sure she was tough to watch over but he had years of practice of making sure she didn't kill herself. _They'll be alright._ He decided.

The platform seemed to overlook the entire building and the dark city surrounding it. A light rain had started up again and fell upon them, cooling off their bodies considerably. Shadow enjoyed the feel of it on her bare arms and let it help her clear the chaos that was labeled her mind. She had always been a sucker for the rain, and growing up in the dreary city hadn't dampened her feelings for it at all. "Has Saix been defeated so easily?" Xemnas asked, standing at the other end of the platform, overlooking the eastern side of the city.

"No, but he is easily distracted." Shadow replied, keeping the smirk off of her face. "I thought you taught him better."

"Unfortunately he was prone to his anger issues." Xemnas sighed, turning to face her. "Why is it you insist on rebelling against me?"

"I was bored." She replied sarcastically. "Because you selfish bastard, you need to learn that you won't always be given anything you want. Everyone has boundaries."

"Oh really? That hasn't seemed to stop you before." This time a scowl came across her features.

"Yes, however afterwords I would regret breaking those boundaries, unlike yourself, who would instead just crave more. Unfortunately there are others out there who would gladly help you pursue your sick goals, don't want them to have that chance. _That's_ why I keep coming back, and this time will be the last seeing as you'll be dead in a couple of minutes."

"Harsh words for someone who doesn't deserve their rebuke."

"I'd beg to differ." She growled, bringing her gun up. "Now get your lazy ass ready, I refuse to kill someone unarmed if they have the chance, and none of your lackeys are here to do the work for you."

"Oh, such a shame." Shade looked over and Sack and nodded his head.

"I'll catch up with you later." Then she glanced at Sephiroth. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."

"Now why would he do that?" They spun around and saw a new face appear. A tall and lanky man with sharp features stood just a few feet behind Zack. However, what caused Shade to frown was his hair. Long, spiky, and pink.

"Dude, what happened to your hair?" Zack gawked.

"Good question." Shadow smirked at the scowl he gave them, not loosing the look as he pulled out the long scythe. "Change of plans. Sephiroth, Zack, would you like a share in the fun?" Laughing once again came from behind them and she turned to look at Xemnas, who was now dangerously close to the edge. "Don't you dare." She hissed. The last thing she saw was the smirk that he had on his own lips before taking a step back, disappearing over the edge. "Hell no!" She yelled running after him.

"Shade! Wait!" Zack called, but it was useless as she went and disappeared over the edge too.

"Shall we?" The taunting voice of Marluxia said, and Zack suddenly found the fuel for his fight.

XXXXXX

"Xemnas!" Shade yelled, the free fall pushing the stray strands of hair from her face as her rifle rested on the sling and behind her back and out of her way as her body angled into a dive. She could see the angled roof coming up below them, a little to quickly for her liking but there was no going back. His silver hair was still in plain sight as he landed harshly but started to smoothly slide down, his feet still stable underneath him. She scowled, and when she was twenty feet from the rooftop she kicked off of the edge of the building behind her, launching her forward before doing a front flip and landing on the roof, the impact jolting her but not doing as much damage as it would have with direct impact. She left the guns alone as she pulled out her two daggers she had used in her fight back at the gym.

When she saw the two solid rods he pulled out of nowhere she grinned, finally getting her challenge.

The roof ended and he dropped from view, but she didn't worry as she came up to the point, her feet underneath her so when she hit the edge she jumped up, lessening her distance some as she dropped to the ground around fifteen feet below. She quickly stood up and saw she was on a platform, wall to her left and railing to her right that overlooked a large almost blank pad that she had to go through at the entrance of the building, a display platform resting above the exit to overlook it. When it sounded like something had cut through the air she spun to her right and brought her daggers up just in time to keep the metal from slamming into her upper shoulders.

Grinning, her foot came up and slammed into Xemnas' chest, sending him back a few feet before she took her own weapons and charged him. She moved quickly and with precise moves, and even though he was just as swift to allow him to avoid anything lethal, he soon had cuts starting to appear on his body. It wasn't until he found an opening after she just brought her leg down from a roundhouse kick that he took one of his own weapons and was able to slam it into her side, causing her to cry out as the pain seared her right side.

Shade stumbled back and growled a curse, ducking to allow another attack to go over her head. "That little hit already put you out of commission miss Shade?" He taunted.

But in return she just smirked, straightening herself and bringing her daggers back up. "Nothing like a little pain to remind you you're alive." He scowled at her and charged forward, leaving her to back up towards the railing. To his surprise, she didn't waste a moment before she jumped up, her feet landing on the thin railings, but she didn't worry about imbalance since a millisecond later she took a step back dropping off the edge.

Xemnas didn't hesitate as he jumped down after her, expecting to see her ready at the bottom. However, when she was nowhere in sight as he dropped near the edge of the platform that was surrounded by pitch black, he immediately wondered if her calculations had been wrong and she was laying in the abyss below, no doubt dead. "Idiot." He muttered.

"No, professional." He cried out in pain as something slammed into the back of his legs. Shadow had been hanging on the edge of the platform with her hands before quickly rising up, her legs coming up and swinging forward as she balanced on nothing but her hands and locked arms, using enough force to kick into the back of his kneecaps. As he went down her let her legs drop onto the platform to take the tension off her arms, quickly climbing back up. Xemnas was just getting ready to get up but she raised her leg high before bringing it down, the heel of her boot painfully connecting with his spine.

His cry of pain satisfied her as she took out the daggers, acknowledging that she had to finish him sooner or later before everyone started to worry. A malicious grin came across her face at the thought of revenge. It was nowhere close to professional, but right now, she could care less.

XXXXXX

"He just won't die!" Axel yelled in frustration as he dodged another attack by Saix. Cloud came from behind him and tackled the man to the ground, causing him to drop his weapon, leaving Axel a chance to drive a point of his Chakrams into one of his arms, a yell of fury the response. Saix took his other arm and pushed himself off, effectively kicking Cloud back with his leg as her reached for his Claymore with his undamaged arm. Axel attempted to attack him again before he could but was caught off guard as the weapon was suddenly slammed into his side, effectively sending him flying a few feet back.

_That hurt._ He thought with a wince, attempting to get back up, pausing as the large shadow suddenly loomed over him. He slowly looked up at the form of Saix growling at him. "Nothing but a waste of air." Saix growled.

Axel couldn't help but laugh, earning him a brief look of confusion. Cloud came from behind him, before driving the dagger painfully into his shoulder. Saix let out a yell as he spun around, but he left himself exposed. With a final ounce of strength he forced himself up, taking his weapons and driving them into the back of the blue haired man's neck. His cry slowly died off, before the large body fell with a solid 'thump' to the ground.

Axel grinned at Cloud, who allowed a small smirk on his face. "Been waiting to do that ever since we got here."

XXXXXX

_Shade you idiot!_ Zack yelled in his mind, suddenly avoiding the scythe that was mere inches from cutting his head off. After watching the girl disappear over the edge the pink haired man had wasted no time in initiating the attack. In Zack's opinion he thought the man was crazy, and not just because of his looks. He had that air of arrogance about him, which lead the raven haired man to believe that he had never even heard of Sephiroth. That was no doubt going to be his downfall.

Zack raised his gun and fired off a couple shots, but was surprised to see the large base of the scythe deflect them easily. A sudden pain filled the side of his head as the long handle of the weapon was used to slam into him, knocking him tot he ground in a disorientating way.

The fuzzy sight of a smirking Marluxia was replaced with an empty space, and filled with the sound of an almost girlish curse. Sephiroth had stepped in, using Masamune to effectively leave a large gash in his side as he calmly let the sword cut through the air. Zack rolled out of the way as the scythe fell back to the ground, the handle still in its wielder's hands, before quickly coming back up to somewhat sloppily block the long sword that came for him.

Sephiroth had trained with this sword for many years, and had known how to use it to its fullest extent, something no one else had known how to do. He'd also made it a point so that whoever outwardly opposed him wouldn't live long enough to tell others about their fight with him. He had studied the way his opponent used his weapon. While he did seem to have learned the techniques, he had yet to learn how to execute them fluidly.

Sephiroth side stepped the attack as the scythe came straight down for the direction of his shoulder, then proceeded to quickly make a turn and swipe at him horizontally. Masamune easily blocked the attack, before he twisted his wrist to bring it straight up, cutting Marluxia's chest from the bottom up, effectively ending with a deep gash in his upper shoulder.

The pink haired man seemed slightly distressed about the wound, but Sephiroth couldn't tell if this was due to the fact he was neatly cut open with a river of blood flowing out of him, or due to the fact his clothes were ruined. Marluxia weakly brought the scythe around, but a gunshot rang out and the the body quickly crumpled to the ground, the bullet having torn its way through his throat.

Sephiroth merely nodded to Zack, who was lowering the gun, before walking over to the edge where Shade had jumped off and looked over, studying the distance. "Let's regroup with the others."

"What about Shade?" Zack asked. "She could be seriously injured after a fall like that."

"She didn't fall, she jumped, therefore she knows what she is doing." He calmly replied. "Now let's go, I don't wish for Yuffie to order an airstrike for fear of us being dead."

Zack chuckled at this. "You seriously think they'd listen to her?"

"No, I think she'd do it herself." Zack's full out laugh could be heard as they walked back down the stairs, leaving the bloody mess behind them.

XXXXXX

_But I've already said_

_Don't ever back down  
__Don't ever turn around  
__My end has come  
__So now I come for you_

Xemnas currently had a deep gash on his upper right arm, possibly two broken ribs, a fractured leg, and a throbbing shoulder where Shadow had effectively landed a solid kick with her heavy boots. Shade, in turn, had a deep cut that spanned the length of her stomach, a deep hole in her shoulder close to the bullet wound where a dagger had been lodged in, possibly a twisted ankle, and a gash on her forehead.

Both were matched in levels concerning speed and agility, however, since both had different fighting styles, the battle had yet to lean in favor for one of the opponents.

Currently they were in a large room, a small passage way leading into it. One wall was completely made of glass, letting in the light of the bright moon that had yet to be obscured by the clouds that provided the light rainfall. The other two tall walls were solid and finished off the room. Shadow briefly wondered what it would look like to through Xemnas out that large and pretty window. She grinned, but then looked at the watch that rested on her wrist. It was nearing eleven that night, and she still owed the guys a couple of beers.

She looked up at Xemnas, who in turn had a look of disdain on his features. She knew he wanted to say something, could see it in the way his mouth was just partly open, breathing heavily through it. Shadow tilted her head slightly, and then allowed a small grin to appear on her face, gaining the desired effect. "Wipe that smirk off of your face." Xemnas growled.

"No." It was short, simple, and stated as a fact. "But while we're talking, I'm going to give you an option." He arched an eyebrow, and she continued. "Don't ask why, but I'm willing to let you live and in turn pay for your actions in the jail cell the local police have reserved specifically for you. Or we can just continue what we've been doing the past half hour and I'll kill you."

"Why is it you would wish for me to spend years in a cell unharmed when you've been dying for this revenge for so long?"

"Dying for it? An overstatement, I assure you. However, it definitely would please me to see you suffer. But I want to at least keep a small piece of the honorable aspect I have gained from others, and this includes allowing you to choose a fair trial. So, what will it be?"

Silence stretched on, before broken by a low and menacing laugh.

"I don't plan on spending the rest of my life in a cell." He replied.

Shade nodded in an understanding way while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Very well then. Shall we continue?" They spoke as if they understood each other, which in an almost alarming way they did.

Xemnas simple nodded, before speaking again. "However, I wish to try something." She watched as he took the two metal rods and tossed them to the side of the room, allowing the weapons to land loudly and roll farther from them. "Hand to hand if you don't mind."

Shade didn't reply as she took her belt that holstered and sheathed various weapons before also tossing it to the side, removing the other weapons from her body and doing the same thing. Both now stood weaponless, but not defenseless.

It was quiet a few seconds, before they moved at the same time. A few steps and they were on top of each other, with Xemnas blocking the quick punches aimed for him, his hands coming up at the right time to push them away before retaliating with his own. Shade held back a grimace as one struck her shoulder but even as his hand was pulling back her knee came up, slamming into his ribcage and causing him to double over. She was going to follow up with slamming a fist once again into his spine but grunted instead as her back suddenly connected with the hard ground, the older man having tackled her to the ground from his position.

They wrestled, but soon he had her pinned to the ground with her hands held firmly at her side. "Now should I give you a slow and painful death? Or a quick and humiliating one?"

She rolled her eyes in response, judged the distance, then didn't hesitate in slamming his head into his, loosening his grip just enough for her to break her arms free, the palms of her hands slamming into his chest before she slid out from under him. She flipped over and was about to get up before something grabbed her foot.

Glancing over, she only had time to predict what he was doing before both hands gripped her lower leg and he was standing, a yell tearing through his throat as she was suddenly swung around, flying through the air before slamming into the ground again, this time on her side. The barely healed cut that now deformed her tattoo flared and she ground her teeth in pain, slowly pushing herself up. "Just face it, I'm better, more powerful, and more deserving than you." He hissed.

"That's the most deranged 'logic' I have ever heard." Shade replied slowly, rolling her shoulder and taking a quick assessment of herself and the situation. When she noticed he was looking more pissed off she tried to think of how to take advantage of this. "Please, share your incompetent stupidity."

A roar came from him as he charged her, and she immediately had the plan in her head. She stood her ground, watching as with each millisecond he was closer to ripping her to shreds. A low breath escaped her and she let her body loose its tense stance.

XXXXXX

_You trip on everything  
__I'll take your tired breath  
__I can't feel anything  
__I live to see you to your death  
__  
A new heart with me  
__As might be just as quick  
__Through your tortured expense  
__'Cause I'll never back down_

Xemnas didn't know what happened. First she was there, trying to fight off the pain he had so gladly caused her, and then she had a look of complete serenity on her face. Either her mind had finally broken down or she had come to terms with death.

If only.

His blind charge had cost him. He thought she was weak enough that more careless movements wouldn't matter. However, instead of her throat in his hands, slowly cutting off her oxygen and giving him the perfect view of watching the life slowly fade out of her eyes, she wasn't in his sight anymore.

His body was slammed into the ground, his chest flaring with pain as it struck the solid floor and he felt his arms jerked harshly behind him at a painful angle, and he couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped him. A heavy boot was placed on his back, and more pressure was placed on his arms. "No!" He growled.

A sickening snap resounded and another howl of pain escaped him as his arms fell limply to the ground, no longer usable as the harsh feeling flowed through them and the broken bones. He heard the mercenary sigh, then gasped as she sat casually on his back, one foot planted on either side of him, but unable to see the arms that hung off her bent knees. "Why can't you leave the innocent people out of your line of work?" A simple question, and he was slightly startled to hear it sounded sincere.

"Why should I tell you?" He growled.

"It would be polite." She said calmly. "I mean, honestly, if you hadn't dragged that family into this mess I would have left you alone. A released convict had gone, taken in a woman and her daughter, given them the care and love they needed, and was an honest workman. He made something out of his life. He was only doing his job." Xemnas said nothing, only seething as she gave the small speech.

Apparently she detected this, and a sigh escaped her. Two hands placed themselves at certain positions around his head, firmly grabbing it. His eyes widened when he realized what she was about to do. "Should have taken the first option." The crack that followed wasn't sickening, wasn't followed by pain, it simple signified the ending to the miniature war that had raged between them, one that had interfered with the lives of others who should never have been dragged into the fray in the first place.

_Don't ever back down  
__Don't ever turn around  
__My end has come  
__So now I come for you_

_Don't back down  
__I'll drive you down  
__I'll beat you to the ground  
__My end has come  
__So now I come for you_

_**Don't back down**_


	17. Epilogue

**Entire thing could have been better. At the end it started getting really forced. Trust me, Resident Evil games and movies to not go with Kingdom Hearts, never have and never will. In my opinion this sucks, but I refused to leave it unfinished, sorry it took so long to even do that. Hope everyone enjoyed their summer and I will start another one once things start to settle down.  
-Shadoword**

_I created the Sound of Madness  
__Wrote the book on pain  
__Somehow I'm still here  
__To explain  
__That the darkest hour never comes in the night  
__You can sleep with a gun  
__When you gonna wake up and fight... for yourself?_

Kairi and Namine talked happily as they walked the sidewalks and towards their school, already having been back in the class for the past three weeks. After the fight had ended, they had ended up spending the rest of a peaceful summer with Shade. Peaceful as in, no one was shooting to kill at them, they weren't being held hostage, and whenever they heard someone threatening to kill another person it was more than likely they would only walk away with a black eye and a few other bruises instead of a bullet hole through the chest.

The guys had stayed an extra week and taken fighting lessons under Shadow, so that way they didn't go back completely stupid since that was what their parents had supposedly signed the permission slips for. Least to say, it was entertaining, and Roxas was making sure to use some of the moves on Riku to satisfy the revenge he needed. Overall, everything was as normal as it could be.

And in some areas, that was very unfortunate.

When they heard shouting they didn't hesitate when they ran the rest of the way and turned the corner, only to frown at the sight. Jessica was a new girl who had just moved into town, and unfortunately the jocks of the school, the exact same ones who had threatened Namine, had taken an interest in making her life a living hell. Large wire-rimmed glasses rested in front of green eyes and her outfit was a little messed up due to the fact that she was struggling to get back the books that were being held out of her reach. But being five-three made this task much harder.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Kairi called, quickly walking up to the trio and distressed girl. Long brown hair fell messily around her shoulders, and every part of her suggested that she was a book worm and more than like over achiever.

"And why should we?" The leader mocked, earning snickers from his friends.

"Because right now you are proving that men have the ability to be abusive and idiotic at the same time." Namine said firmly, standing her ground as he growled at her. After a talk with Shadow a few weeks ago, she had been working harder to stand up for her and those weaker than their opponents.

"I would watch what you say. You're sister ain't here to take care of you anymore." Just as he finished the first warning bell to the school rang. His smirk returned. "Here you go."

Jessica winced as the book was dropped harshly on her head, thankfully the edge not landing a blow to her head, but it was still heavy nevertheless. As she slowly bent to pick it up she hadn't realized the small paper item in the jocks hand as the trio walked away, the book marker being tucked into his pocket as he went.

"Are you OK?" Kairi asked, bending down to also help her gather her belongings.

"Did I do something to make him mad at me?" She asked sadly, picking up her thrown backpack. "This book was a gift from my friends-" She gasped as she noticed the pretty lime green marker missing from the pages. Glancing frantically around and not finding it, she let out a distressed wail, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

Namine quickly went to comforting the girl, setting delicate hands on her shoulders as they walked towards the school. Kairi walked on the other side of her and the sisters exchanged a look that the sniffling girl didn't see.

Her pink cellphone came out and the redhead dialed the number she knew by heart, holding it to her ear as the final warning bell rang off.

"_This is Shade. Leave your name, number, and the job you need done. I'll get back to you."_

XXXXXX

Lunch was going normally. Kairi and Namine had taken to making sure Jessica ate with them along with Sora, Roxas, and Riku which they were once again doing, with the exception of the guys, who were nowhere to be found. She had gotten a hold of herself, but was still saddened by the loss of her gift from her close friends in her old hometown. Kairi was currently talking to her about the things she liked about Destiny Islands when the cafeteria doors slammed open, revealing a breathless Sora. "Everyone! Tyler and his cronies are hanging from the gym walls!" The entire place fell silent for a moment before everyone was rushing out of their seats and towards the doors, eager to see if this was true.

Kairi and Namine looked at each other before getting up with Jessica. They quickly made their way through the crowed and the large double doors, immediately met with packs of students who occupied the space.

An unknown reason was the cause of the sudden pathway that opened up to them, and the three girls walked through with little resistance towards the back of the gym, where Riku, Sora, and Roxas were standing with wide grins on their faces. Kairi and Namine stepped up next to them, looking at their faces before following their gazes. Their own lips formed into smiles while Jessica gasped from beside them.

Tyler, apparently the leader of the trio, was currently a good twenty feet off the ground, being suspended against the wall by nothing except duck tape. Layers of the gray and sticky product were keeping them in an 'X' position, spanning across their chests and stomachs, arms, and legs. All three were struggling, their voices muffled by the duck tape that was wrapped firmly around their heads and across their mouths. Disheveled clothes and hair only added to the amusing sight. Finally a large white paper in the shape of the balloon with the tail placed by Tyler's mouth was taped neatly against the wall. "Free target practice."

Kairi and Namine started laughing, knowing who was behind it but deciding not to say. When Namine looked down and noticed the little white envelope at the base of the wall she walked up and picked it up, opening the unsealed flap and taking out the piece of paper.

"_This one is on me, 'cause I had a good time doing it." _

She saw the colored item inside and smiled, walking up to Jessica and handing her the note along with her book marker. Jessica scanned the letter and slowly looked up at the twins, blinking in confusion. "Who would do something like this for me?"

They just shrugged, and Kairi shook her head. "I don't know, but something tells me they won't be messing with you again for a while."

Jessica had a blank look for a minute before a smile spread across her face, her giggling joining with the rest of the students as they watched the struggling trio.

"Hey Tyler." Riku called, smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You sure you want to try to get free? Being twenty feet above the ground and all..." He let the sentence die off.

The teenager was immediately motionless.


	18. Playlist

Sisters by Claim Playlist:

Hillary Duff - Someone's Watching Over Me

Eminem - Not Afriad

Skillet - Monster

N.E.R.D. - Rockstar (Remix)

Vitamin C - Vacation

Unknown - Numa Numa

Jem - They

Linkin Park - Runaway

The Used - Blood On My Hands

Breaking Benjamin - Unknown Soldier

Kevin Rudolf - Let It Rock

Aly & AJ - Tears

Three Days Grace - It's All Over

Disturbed - Indestructible

Ben Moody - The End Has Come


End file.
